Sparking conversation
By Casey Gillis on May. 31, 2007
The ending of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” never did sit well with Patti Finn Rapiejko.
After the titular couple commits suicide, their respective families come together and agree to end their feud.
But they never discuss why these two young people killed themselves.
“As a mother of a teen who struggles with depression and as a teacher to kids at risk, that was an unacceptable ending,” says Rapiejko, the founder of Lynchburg’s Theatreworks.
Last year, she created “Romeo & Juliet: A Crime Scene Investigation,” which picked up right after that final scene and had the parents questioning why their children died.
It culminated with performances last May, but “after we were done, nobody in the cast really felt like the work had been done,” Rapiejko says.
She did a complete rewrite, and the cast will be performing the revamped show at Renaissance Theatre beginning this weekend (for a complete list of show dates, see box).
“It really is an investigation into the choices that have been made,” she says. “We ask, why did they choose suicide? Last time, we asked why did they die?”
Both times they came up with the same answer: Romeo and Juliet were likely depressed.
“It’s all in the Bard,” Rapiejko says. “It’s all there. It’s just a matter of seeing something more than love and romance.”
As she reworked the script, Rapiejko compared some of Juliet’s actions in the play to a depression checklist and found many similarities.
“What was really shocking was that Juliet showed numerous signs,” she says. “She ranked really high.”
For example, Rapiejko says Juliet threatens to kill herself no less than three times in the text.
Just like last time, the play opens up at the tomb, immediately after the pair has committed suicide.
“The friar, the mother, the nurse, Benvolio — all of the survivors — have to answer to the royal (who is acting as the investigator into the deaths),” Rapiejko says. “It’s really the survivors who investigate and reconstruct the days prior to the suicide to look for signs that they missed or didn’t recognize.”
This leads to flashbacks of those “Romeo and Juliet” scenes we all know so well, like their famous balcony encounter.
“To me, the real benefit to this work of art is that it takes something that everyone knows, and it puts it in a context that’s new,” Rapiejko says. “That really is the function of art: to highlight humanity and teach something new.”
She also wants it to spark dialogue about teen depression and suicide.
“I’m really hoping that families come to see the show so the discussion can continue at the dinner table or in the minivan,” she says. “That, I think, is my primary goal: to have the discussion happen in our community.”
She thinks it’s not talked about enough and is often viewed as a taboo subject.
“When someone commits suicide, it’s such a devastating thing, and there are so many emotions related to it,” Rapiejko says. “… I believe there is a difficulty talking about it. We have a difficult time talking about mental health (in general). … The stigma of mental health issues really drives the idea that we don’t want to talk about this until it really frying-pans us in the face.”
And it’s an issue that’s not going away.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people ages 15 to 24, and in 2001, nearly 4,000 suicides were reported in this group — “That’s 12 a day,” Rapiejko says.
After each performance of the show, mental health professionals from the Suicide Prevention Coalition, the Central Health Mental Health Division and Crisis Line will conduct a panel session about teen suicide and depression.
In addition to the Renaissance shows, they’ll also perform it at the Earl Hamner Theatre in Afton on July 6 and 7 and at the Capital Fringe Festival in Washington, D.C., at the end of July.
If You’re Going
WHAT: ‘Romeo & Juliet: Crime Scene Investigation’
WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, as well as June 7, 8 and 9, and 3 p.m. Sunday and June 10
WHERE: Renaissance Theatre, 1022 Commerce St.
TICKETS: $15 for adults and $12 for students. Seating is limited, so all tickets must be purchased in advance by calling Renaissance’s box office.
INFO: (434) 845-4427
COMMENTS
As the playwright and director of this work, I wanted to thank those who have enabled this project with their sponsorship support: The Crisis Line, The Suicide Prevention Coalition, and Centra Health.
These organizations are the first line of defense to help get help and simutaneously fight the stigmas related to the issues of mental illness.
The time is now, this is not a problem of a far away place, it is real and here. There as been a series of local incidents of the last few months which require this subject be addressed: a napalm bomber apprehended at Liberty University, a suspected gunman at EC Glass caused a lockdown false alarm, Jefferson Forest HS student gunman thwarted with rifle and extra ammo, and the tragic suicide of an EC Glass student earlier in January.
Please do not hesitate to call upon these organizations if you or someone you care about is suffering. Depression is treatable, Suicide is not.
I invite you to enter into the the discussion through the power form of social consciousness-building theatre.
I hope to see you at the Renaissance Theatre this weekend (June 8,9,& 10) for the final showings in town before we tour regionally and to the Capital Fringe Festival in Washington DC. http://www.capitalfringe.org
Thank you to the News and Advance, and Casey Gillis for this well executed article to help us get the word out.