Southeast uses race to illustrate forbidden love

Southeast Missouri State University has striven to make its production of "Romeo and Juliet" an original product, one that uses a classic script but refuses to borrow from any other "Romeo and Juliet" that has graced the stage in the past.

Of course, one device used toward that purpose is the extreme masculine personality given to the Montague boys in the first half. They're young, they're rich, and all they can think about is sex and fighting.

But patrons of Rose Theatre will get another unconventional dose of Dr. Kenn Stilson's vision when "Romeo and Juliet" opens tonight -- a racially mixed title couple.

"The whole play is about forbidden love," said Stilson. "While interracial couples are accepted in most of the Western world, people still understand the bigotry and prejudice that go along with that. We're only a few decades removed from it ourselves."

Desmond Gray, a black student, plays Romeo. Tony Poston, a racially mixed student, plays his father, Lord Capulet. Meanwhile, Juliet is played by a white student, Emily Brown.

If Brown and Gray aren't the first interracial couple to lead a play at Southeast, they're one of the first. And Gray is one of the first black leads.

Stilson didn't go into the casting process seeking a black Romeo for a white Juliet, but things just happened to fall in place. Gray tried out and made for a good Romeo, while Brown fit the role of the 14-year-old Juliet. With a resource like Poston, Stilson was able to make a racial difference between the two families.

The race issue isn't addressed in the dialogue, which stays faithful to the original Shakespeare, but is meant to have more of a subconscious effect, Stilson said.

Nor is the idea completely novel.

"This isn't the first or last time there's been a black Romeo," said Stilson.

But the racial mix of the star-crossed lovers does add a new flavor and a new angle, if audiences want to look at it that way.

Stilson said members of the production have heard some remarks about the pairing, but nothing threatening.

"Just your plain old garden-variety ignorance," he said.