What's in a name? A prairie dog by any other name would be just as sweet. Wait, that's not how it goes? Well, that's okay, because in a new production of Romeo and Juliet at the St. Louis Zoo, Romeo is played by a prairie dog puppet, and Juliet is a grizzly bear. And all of the life-sized puppets are made by Michael Curry Designs, who made the puppets for Disney's The Lion King and Frozen on Broadway.
"We approached the zoo, almost four years ago now, about the idea of collaborating on something," says Tom Ridgely, producing artistic director of St. Louis Shakespeare, and director of Romeo and Zooliet. "From the beginning they were extremely enthusiastic, because, as they tell us, it's never been tried before, a full-scale theatrical production inside a zoo."
Romeo and Zooliet is currently being presented through August 17 at the St. Louis Zoo, and produced by St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, who are no strangers to performing the Bard outside—though with animal puppets is certainly a new thing.
Ridgely admits that the initial idea was to do The Lion King JR because the theatre specializes in doing Shakespeare's plays outside, and Lion King is "basically the Hamlet story." But when the rights ended up being "too restrictive," Ridgely scrapped that idea. Googling the phrase "Shakespeare Zoo" took him to a graphic novel called The Stratford Zoo Midnight Revue Presents Romeo and Juliet, which had a group of zoo animals perform Shakespeare after-hours at the zoo.
Romeo and Zooliet was born, an 85-minute adaptation of Shakespeare's classic by Jennifer Joan Thompson, where the Montagues are herbivores and the Capulets are carnivores—and Romeo the prairie dog and Juliet the bear must cross the zoological divide to become friends. See photos from the production below, which has actors, who have learned how to be puppeteers, fully encased in animal puppet costumes.
Company of Romeo and Juliet at the St. Louis Zoo
Company of Romeo and Juliet at the St. Louis Zoo
Company of Romeo and Juliet at the St. Louis Zoo
Company of Romeo and Juliet at the St. Louis Zoo
Company of Romeo and Juliet at the St. Louis Zoo
Company of Romeo and Juliet at the St. Louis Zoo
Company of Romeo and Juliet at the St. Louis Zoo
Company of Romeo and Juliet at the St. Louis Zoo
Company of Romeo and Juliet at the St. Louis Zoo
Company of Romeo and Juliet at the St. Louis Zoo
Company of Romeo and Juliet at the St. Louis Zoo
Company of Romeo and Juliet at the St. Louis Zoo
So far, Romeo and Zooliet has been performing to big houses, and Ridgely says other zoos and theatres have gotten in contact with St. Louis Shakespeare for future zoological-themed productions. "For us, we're always looking for ways to reach new audiences, to make theatre more a part of everyday life in St. Louis. And the zoo is such a surprising, unexpected place to see a play, but it's also this place of wonder and imagination in its own way. The whole thing's actually felt incredibly natural."
The puppets from Michael Curry Designs, which were all hand-crafted from foam, actually took a year to create from sketch to the finished product. See how the puppets were created in the video below.
Exit, pursued by bear, indeed. Visit STLShakes.org.
