91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ

These Violent Delights

an original adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet

By Ry Burke, Juliana Cable, Catherine Duffly, Peter Ksander, Rosie Tabachnik, and Somerset Thompson

Directed by Catherine Ming T’ien Duffly
Scenic and Video Design by Peter Ksander
Lighting Design by Ry Burke
Sound Design by Sharath Patel
Costume Design by Jenny Ampersand
Fight Choreography by Rusty Tennant
Dramaturgy by Abigail Watt

91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Diver Studio Theatre
March 31, April 1, 6, 7, 8 2017

Photos by Owen Carey

These Violent Delights was the result of several months of collaboration with 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ students as an investigation the ways 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ students understood Romeo and Juliet in relation to their own social moment, their own hopes and fears, particularly around issues of gender and sexuality. Our adaptation examined what it means to live under threat today, especially for queer, trans, and non-binary youth, and what it means to make space for oneself within an oppressive structure. These Violent Delights asks what would it mean to feel safe within a threatening environment. What would it look like to allow yourself to feel vulnerable, even within an oppressive structure? And, once you have created a space for yourself, however fleeting, how might that experience change you? What possibilities might that kind of creative world-making hold?