chester poon in romeo and juliet

Chester Poon, actor and former Angry Reader of the Week, informs me that he's in a production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet that starts tonight, May 14, and runs through the end of the month. Set in the contemporary world of New York City's Lower East Side, it's the classic tale of ill-fated lovers from different worlds, presented in a very unique new way:

"A Plague on both your houses!"

Romeo and Juliet come to life in the contemporary world of the Lower East Side.

The Shakespearean tale of the Montagues and the Capulets and the ill-fated love affair involving their children caught between this bitter family rivalry runs from May 14th to June 1st, 2009

The show will be set in contemporary Lower East Side and will set the rivalry between two merchant families the Montagues as Chinese and Capulets as Latinos. The production will break new ground in its use of Cantonese, Spanish and Russian language translations throughout the presentation while still maintaining classical structure and language.

This Show will be radically different from any other production of "Romeo and Juliet" ever mounted.

Our company will draw the audience into the tragic old tale with a contemporary use of music and dance while still telling the story as Shakespeare wrote it.

The cast will be comprised of approximately 30 actors as diverse as the population of present day New York City and the Lower East Side.

The Lower East Side was the original setting for Westside Story, the most widely recognized contemporary adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. We bring our production back to this setting and set the tension between the populations that are currently most dominant in the area: Asians and Latinos. We keep a touch of the old neighborhood by making the tragic chosen suitor in the story- the noble Paris-of Russian Jewish descent. Unlike most productions of this nature, we preserve the text as it was written.

Show Schedule

May 14th to May 31st
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8.00pm
Sunday at 3.00pm

Tickets:$25.00
available at http://www.smarttix.com/

For more information, please contact: Jose Esquea at 646.209.5375
or Teatro LA TEA at 212.529.1948

Sounds pretty cool, right? So if you're in New York, and interested in seeing a very different take on a classic theater piece (as well as seeing an Asian American male as the romantic-but-tragic lead), check out Romeo and Juliet. For more information, visit the website here. Break a leg, Chester!