Quick Chats: Melisa Pereyra on Romeo and Juliet

Welcome to our Quick Chats series, where we take a peek backstage and ask questions that are almost completely related to the show. Today, we're chatting with Melisa Pereyra, who plays Juliet in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. It's a story as touching as it is timeless. Rivaling households, Montague and Capulet, put the streets of Verona in constant danger of bloodshed. Nothing can reconcile them-that is, until the youngest members of the two families meet. Romeo and Juliet fall for each other instantly in the searing, all-consuming way that only young lovers can. This alliance promises to unite the families and end the feud, if only the lovers can find their happy ending. Shakespeare's powerful love story continues to touch and break the hearts of audiences today. And now, to Melisa. APT: Do you believe in love at first sight, like Romeo and Juliet have? M: Of course, life is too short not to. Having that belief makes it easier to work on a play that centers so much around that very thing. APT: For many, reading this play in high school English is their first encounter with Shakespeare. What was your first Shakespeare? M: A Midsummer Night's Dream: it was the first Shakespeare I read, the first Shakespeare I was in (Titania), and my first play in the U.S. (11th grade)! APT: What's your favorite monologue from the show? M: I have always loved the Friar's speech to Romeo during their 'banished' scene. He starts, "Hold thy desperate hand" and goes on to remind Romeo all the reasons he should be happy. After listing them all, the Friar concludes, "A pack of blessings light upon thy back But like a misbehaved and sullen wench, Thou pout'st upon thy fortune and thy love. Take heed, take heed, for such die miserable." It's such a brilliant piece of wisdom. I listen to it every night as I prep to enter the next scene and it never fails to remind me that in moments of darkness, we must try to find the light. Lines that resonate on a larger scale regarding the human condition tend stick with me. For example, Juliet's "They are but beggars that can count their worth", and "My bounty is as boundless as the sea", her questions to the heavens and fate throughout the play, "Be fickle fortune", "Is there no pity sitting in the clouds that sees into the bottom of my grief?", "Alack, Alack, that heaven should practice stratagems upon so soft a subject as myself", Her reckless and complete belief in love in a moment of utter despair, "Love give me strength, and strength shall help afford", the Nurse's "These griefs, these woes, these sorrows make me old", Lord Capulet's, "We were born to die", Romeo's musings and unanswerable question at the end of the play, "How oft when men are at the point of death Have they been merry, which their keepers call A lighting before death. O, how may I call this a lighting?" Lines like that engage me on a very personal level. APT: Besides Romeo, who of the Montague gang do you think Juliet would go on a date with? M: Well, THIS Juliet would choose Benvolio ;) I am lucky to get to play in the woods with my real-life husband [Jeb Burris] this summer! Although Juliet and Benvolio don't spend much time together on stage, we make up for it on the streets of Spring Green! APT: Does performing in your non-native language present difficulties? M: When I moved to the United States, I spoke no English. I went to school for months without understanding what anyone was saying; THAT presented difficulties! I never imagined I would ever learn this complex language let alone speak Shakespeare's words in front of thousands of people. Today, I GET to speak poetry for a living. I feel lucky to be surrounded by people who work so hard to make these stories so clear, full, and specific. Native speaker or not, we all try to do the same in our own way; I have talked to people who have been doing Classical work for more than thirty years and they say it doesn't get easier, the work gets deeper. It will always be difficult and THAT'S why they do it. I like that about my job. What I love about Shakespeare is that the ideas he presents to his listeners are universal no matter where you are from or what language you speak. I am lucky to know two different languages; I understand two different cultures and ways of being; Juliet is infused by these two cultures because I happen to be playing her but I think it would be just as difficult regardless of where you are from. Romeo and Juliet runs through October 4 on the Hill. For more information or to buy tickets, please visit http://americanplayers.org/plays/romeo-and-juliet or call the Box Office at 608-588-2361. Photo: Carissa Dixon