Love and Hate: A Retelling of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet
Date Posted: Aug 16, 2022
Pensacola’s Little Theatre is going big for its Foo Foo Festival production this year
Pensacola Little Theatre has been creating captivating experiences on its Northwest Florida stage for the last 80-plus years. The nonprofit is known for its statement-making productions, and its latest will be a can’t miss event happening during the annual Foo Foo Festival: Unrequited. Pensacola Little Theatre’s Executive Director Sid Williams-Heath and Marketing Director Ashley McGlothren share all of the details about what to expect this year with its theatrical production that’s putting the audience in on the action.
Q: Tell us a little about Unrequited. What will this production be about?
A: Unrequited is an immersive retelling of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The entire story will be condensed down to a one-hour event, and it will move all throughout the Pensacola Little Theatre facility, immersing the audience into the story as they transcend room by room, scene by scene. The audience will find themselves in a ballroom, out on the streets of Verona, and even in a 1920s-style speakeasy.
Q: That’s such a unique performance—tell us more about what the audience can expect.
A: It’s very much inspired by Sleep No More in New York City. We want the audience to find themselves emersed in the story, drinking with strangers and talking with strangers but following the storyline. And it’s a storyline we all know, the tragic love story of Romeo and Juliet. The audience will move from room to room meeting the characters, seeing them falling in love, and even be part of the big Capulet party where they are dancing and drinking and having a good time.
Q: What about those that are a little hesitant about Shakespeare?
A: Don’t be thrown off about it being Shakespeare. The performance is about something everyone can relate to: falling in love for the first time and wanting something you can’t have. Those are universal things everyone understands and relates to, and so it just so happens to be Shakespeare.
Q: What are the dates and how do you get tickets?
A: The show starts October 28 and runs through November 9. There will be three shows each night. Tickets are on sale now on our website, pensacolalittletheatre.com. What’s great is that while the storyline doesn’t change from night to night, the experience can be completely different each time. So you can come back more than once and feel like you are getting an entirely different experience.