"I was thrown out of my Shakespeare class at school," said director John Zuill as he tried, in his own strange way, to inspire confidence in Waterspout Theatre's upcoming interpretation of `Romeo and Juliet'.

Despite the admission, it was difficult not be fascinated by his account of the "powerful" experience that awaits members of the public who make their way to the gardens between the headquarters of ACE Bermuda and XL Capital from next Monday.

The new production, Mr. Zuill said, relieves the classic romantic tragedy of its schoolroom dust with a young, energetic cast and a staging that emphasises characters over stylised themes.

"For me, Shakespeare is sort of organic and malleable," he said. "The plays don't necessarily have to say something special. It's just the English language in a beautiful verse form, which is at exactly the same beat as your heart and the same rhythm as your own breathing."

Written in about 1591, `Romeo and Juliet' is the epitome of the tragic love story. Two star-crossed souls transcend the bitter feud between their families with their all-consuming passion. The 16th century Italian mores of duty and status are spurned in favour of something more pure.

The production will be staged outdoors because, as Mr. Zuill said, "Shakespeare is an outside kind of thing and the play itself was written for that".

The play moves from Italy to the Bermuda of the 1940s and 1950s. "That's because the audience will be Bermudian," Mr. Zuill said.

"The time period fits because it's more in memory and it's more evocative. It's far enough away to be less of an emotional investment and hopefully people will invest more in the characters and less in the time period."

The focus in this production is on characters rather than stylistic staging.

"I don't think Shakespeare really fits that well into a theme. It's a popular thing to do, Macbeth in storm troopers outfits for example. I don't think it works so well," said Mr. Zuill.

Taking on the roles of `Romeo and Juliet' will be newcomer Andrew Bacon and `Vagina Monologues'star Rowan Hallett.

Asked how he helped the actors get into role, Mr. Zuill said: "It's just there already. There was this great transformation happening and it was really magical. I have ideas about why characters are the way they are but I try not to (impose) them because people have their own ideas. Rowan Hallett was always going to be a very powerful Juliet and Andrew Bacon seems to have cottoned onto it pretty well too."

Andra Simons, who takes on the smaller but crucial role of Friar Laurence, said: "There are lots of strong actors in this play, and that fact makes it about them. It feels like we are watching stories about lots of different characters. Bermudians will love it because we discover that Shakespeare is a lot like a soap opera with lots of interconnecting stories.

"You find yourself being moved around like a chess piece and it's the strength of the actors that does that. It means that it isn't just about `Romeo and Juliet' but about them in the midst of the town of Verona."

Mr. Zuill said both leads lend a noticeable boldness to the roles, balancing out a show that usually ends up being stolen by Juliet.

"I didn't want a wimpy Romeo. In this staging, Romeo is much more robust than usual. He sees what he wants and goes for it. Romeo rises into love with this woman. I don't think they fall in love as much as they rise and it's very positive that way. But then, of course, they die which is the irony of the whole thing."

He said the play is zapped with energy by the performance of Daren Herbert, who takes on the role of Mercutio.

"He is incredibly physical and has good instincts about Shakespeare. All of the males (who auditioned) wanted to play Mercutio because I think we live in a kind of Mercutio age. Nowadays with things like rap, everything tends to be much more polemic. We believe in conforming but with a lot of griping at the same time."

Mr. Simons said a sense of oneness had grown amongst the cast members.

"There's a great chemistry between us. Everyone seems to come into Shakespeare feeling intimidated and because of that it feels like we're all starting from the same place. Egos tend to diminish and the cast moves and discovers together. It creates a bond."

The costumes are simple and timeless. "We didn't want anything to detract from the acting. There had to be just enough costume so that it looks nice, but that's it."

Other performers include James Birch who plays Benvolio, Stephen Notman as Tybalt and Ruth Thomas, playing the Nurse.

Tickets for Waterspout Theatre's production of `Romeo and Juliet', which runs from August 11 until the 23 but with no performances on the 17th or 22nd, are available at $10 from the Bermuda Bookstore and Rock Island Coffee.

There is seating for only 50 in the intimate garden on the Robert Clements Walkway between the ACE Global Headquarters and XL House, but, as Mr. Zuill said, this "puts the audience as close to the action as possible - providing a direct experience".

The entrance is on Gorham Road and performances begin at 8 p.m.