"Romeo and Juliet!" Shakespeare on the Sound with Nick Urda and John Love

"For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”  ― William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

It's almost time for Shakespeare on the Sound, and this year's production is..."Romeo and Juliet!" Watch and listen as this play comes to life at Darien Library, just in time for Shakespeare on the Sound's 28^th annual summer production, in Rowayton's Pinkney Park, June 12 through the June 30.

Shakespeare On the Sound's Nick Urda and John Love will walk us through this unforgettable play. Until then, fill up on fun facts about the iconic work which was written in the 1590s:

     -Romeo and Juliet first meet on a Sunday evening. Four days later—on Wednesday evening—Romeo drinks poison and Juliet stabs herself. "Worst week ever,” as one Shakespearean scholar has put it.

     -Dante first mentions the feud between the families in the early 1300s.

     -In 1662, Mary Saunderson made stage history as the first woman to play Juliet, 150 years after London audiences first saw Shakespeare's play with a boy playing Juliet.

Learn the origins of the play, what Shakespeare intended and so much more!

About The Presenters

Nick Urda is the Director of Educational Outreach for Shakespeare on the Sound. It is Nick’s fifth year with SOS’ educational department. Nick came to Shakespeare on the Sound as an actor in the educational program Speaking Daggers and has been seen on stage as Valentine in The Two Gentlemen of Verona and most recently Macduff in 2017’s production of Macbeth.

Recently, Nick co-directed the educational tour of R+J4EVR, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s "Romeo and Juliet." He also directed last year’s tour of "Shakespeare in 30 Minutes: Twelfth Night." As a performer, Nick has been acting professionally on stage and on screen for the past 14 years. Nick’s credits include Federico García Lorca in "Olives and Blood" (CT Rep) and the off Broadway premiere of "The Preacher and The Shrink," as well as working with such companies as Northern Stage, Two River Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Washington, D.C. and The Royal Shakespeare Company.  He holds a BFA from Marymount Manhattan College as well as completing the fellowship with The Shakespeare Theatre Company, DC. He can be seen on film in "Strawberry Flavored Plastic," which was recently released by Breaking Glass Pictures on May 7th, 2019.

John Love began studying Shakespeare as an English major at Brown University, and went on to earn a Ph.D in Renaissance literature at UNC-Chapel Hill. During his 40 years teaching English in secondary schools, he has taught a baker's dozen of the plays of Shakespeare. Currently, he is president of the board of directors of Shakespeare on the Sound and lives in Rowayton.