“Romeo and Juliet” is perhaps the most famous love story of all time. It’s a story that can be set in a variety of time periods, whether it be the Montagues and Capulets from Shakespeare’s time in the late 1590s or the Sharks and the Jets from “West Side Story” in the 1950s. Greasepaint Youtheatre is presenting “Romeo and Juliet” from April 25 to May 4.
Playing Capulet, the patriarch of his family, is local teen Eric Slosky. Eric is 16 and attends the Gary K. Herberger Young Scholars’ Academy, a private school located on the ASU West campus. The Academy is a highly academic high school program, so, as Eric explains, “I am a sophomore in high school, but the school is accelerated, so I am technically finishing up my junior/senior requirements this year and attending college the fall of 2015.”
Eric began acting around the age of 8 at Desert Stages’ summer theater camps. “Since then,” he says, “I have participated in many drama events such as Poetry Out Loud, the National Shakespeare Competition and various school performances. … what keeps pulling me back is the thrill of performing and the opportunity to ‘show off ’ in front of an audience.”
Eric is looking forward to his first production with Greasepaint Youtheatre, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. “Romeo and Juliet” has been cast with 22 teens from across the Valley. While this version doesn’t have a definitive designated time period, “the setting and feel of the show is a bit edgy, a bit gritty; it will have an industrial feel to it,” explains Director Debra Kay Stevens. “I wanted to find a way to make the piece feel relevant to today’s teens.”
Eric is particularly excited about playing Capulet. “I would have been happy with any role in the play, but I really enjoy playing fatherly and power figures. The fact that I may get to yell onstage is just icing on the cake! I also really enjoy performing Shakespeare, as I am intrigued by the history of classical theater.”
Eric became a bar mitzvah through Temple Solel in Paradise Valley. He lives in Scottsdale with his parents, Jeff and Carlina, and his older sister, Rachael, a student at ASU Barrett’s Honor College.
“Romeo and Juliet” is playing April 25-May 4 at Stagebrush Theatre, home to Greasepaint Youtheatre, at 7020 E 2nd Street in Scottsdale. Performances are Friday and Saturday nights at 7 pm and Sundays at 2 pm. Tickets are $12-15. 480-949-7529, greasepaint.org
