Dean Poling | The Valdosta Daily TimesRomeo and Juliet (played by Carter McGhin and Alora Kingery) reenact the balcony scene on a stepladder in the Gingerbread Players of Theatre Guild Valdosta production of 'The Seussification of Romeo & Juliet.' They are joined by the two narrators played by Meagan Ritter and Anna Cozart. 

VALDOSTA – The House of Capitulate is feuding with the House of Monotone.

They battle and war with one another, wearing their Xs and Os. And two of them dare to fall in love: Juliet and Romeo.

But will Shakepeare’s most tragic couple die in a Seussified children’s version of the well-known play?

Gingerbread Players of Theatre Guild Valdosta answers that question and others with playwright Peter Bloedel’s “The Seussification of Romeo and Juliet,” playing this weekend and next weekend.

Bethanie Bass, show director, said the play offers a mix of Dr. Seuss-style language and Shakespearean poetry. In some cases, actual Shakespearean puns from “Romeo and Juliet” receive a skewed-word Seussification.

For Bass, who has a background teaching Shakespeare, she has to catch herself from calling the feuding families their Shakespearean names of Capulet and Montague and continue calling them the Seussified names of the Capitulates and the Monotones.

The families also wear Xs and Os on their costumes. The Xs represent Juliet and her family and Os represent Romeo and his family, Bass said. Only a “Seuss ex machina” can bring the couple together and the families peace.

The cast is comprised of youngsters ages from elementary school to high school. Auditions were held on the first day of classes for area schools, giving the cast and crew only five weeks of rehearsals.

Performances are this weekend and next, with two performances on each Saturday.

 

THE CAST: Meagan Ritter, Anna Cozart, Zayn Covington, Sadie Covington, Caitlin Kingery, Mia Betlow, Sarah Grace Puckett, Dalton Bell, Lauren Greer, Brendan Wood, Stella Cofield, Aiden Brownell, Carter McGhin, Souad Dennis, David Dennis, Amelia Covington, Ariana Williams, Alora Kingery, Jacks Dean, Charlee McGuire, Austin “Bud” Sanderson, Miriam Dennis, Avarie Kerzic, McKinsey Rogers, Naimaa Walker-Potts, Olivia McGhin, Sophie O’Kane, Wyatt Rogers, Emily Grace McCowan, Andrea Petty, Brookelyn Repsher.

DIRECTION, PRODUCTION: Bethanie Bass, director; Stephenie Dukes, assistant director, producer; Michelle Ritter, stage manager; Jennifer Covington, props mistress; Lynnette Kenworthy, set and lighting design; Joseph Betlow, light board operator; Lynette Betlow, sound operator; Andrea Petty & Brookelyn Repsher, stage hands.

SHOWTIME

Gingerbread Players of Theatre Guild Valdosta presents “The Seussification of Romeo & Juliet.”

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 14; 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 15; 7:30 p.m., Sept. 21; 2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m., Sept. 22.

Where: The Dosta Playhouse, 122 N. Ashley St.

Tickets, more information: Visit theatreguildvaldosta.com; or call (229) 24-STAGE.