Emilia Suárez Sees her Juliet at the ART as 'Sharp' and 'a Little Zany'

EDGE: Speaking of Gen Z, according to surveys, it's the most openly queer generation of Americans ever. What does that mean to you as a theater maker in general, and for this production in particular?

Emilia Suárez: I think that's a great, great question. [Looking both ways before looking back into the camera] Let me not get hit by a bus while I answer it....

[Laughter]

Emilia Suárez: There's nothing in the text that indicates characters being particularly queer or not. The idea that Mercutio is earnestly in love with Romeo or Benvolio is a very common take on that character. I think there is something so inherently and obviously queer about him, but I think that the idea that he is a gay man in love with Romeo is so off the mark. In this production, it feels like Mercutio gets to be who he is, whatever that is, and there's no commentary on whether or not he's queer. This is just my personal take on what I'm seeing in front of me – the things he says, and the way he says them, and the way he talks with his male friends, things like that.

In relationship to what you're saying with Gen Z being the most openly queer generation, I think a lot of what my generation really wants is to start creating a world where you don't tell your children about being queer, being gay, or anything. It's not, "Here's what people are doing in the world, and if you do that, I will also be okay with it." It's more, "So, you're a person, and someday you're gonna start having feelings for some person that makes them special, and you just pay attention to who starts making you feel those feelings." A character doesn't have to exist [solely in relation to] their queerness; that is just a part of who they are.

I find the most successful criticism of performances that are inauthentic to queerness [focuses on how] the performance might be very nuanced and lovely, but they're performances of queerness, as opposed to being a person who is also queer. I'm grateful that this production doesn't impose anything on what any character might be.

EDGE: How about your take on Juliet? Could she be a modern Gen Z teenager who might say she's queer and otherwise reject labels?

Emilia Suárez: I was thinking about this, and I think there's absolutely room for that, in that she just hasn't thought about a relationship, or cared about romance or sex, or any of that – and that's because the right person hasn't come her way.

Romeo is the right person. I don't think he's the right boy. She feels very set aflame by him. She doesn't seem sexually or romantically interested in anyone, until someone shows her who they are, and she feels like she sees them.

EDGE: What's it been like having Rudy Pankow, who plays Romeo, be your on-stage love interest?

Emilia Suárez: It's been wonderful. He's such a hard worker. He's so professional. We had a really lovely rapport from the beginning, of communication and trust. In theater, when you're out there and something goes wrong, you're so naked and you just have each other. I think we've continued to find the trust that will hopefully hold us through that space. We've had a lovely time working together.

EDGE: You've also got the privilege of working with Diane Paulus as director for this production. What has that been like?

Emilia Suárez: Diane is a force. I don't want to spoil anything, but she has such beautiful plans for how she weaves everything together. I don't think she felt the need to make us imagine anything scarier or more divided about our world. I think we can all connect to that at the drop of a hat. And the play is so relationship-driven and actor-driven, and she allowed us to find every single place in the play where there is love, so that when it's lost, we can see what these characters are going through.

I'm very fortunate in a role that a lot of people think is boring, and I think they're boring for thinking that. I think my take on Juliet is a little zanier. I think she's really sharp, and Diane has taken that and grown it even more. I feel lucky to be in this production. I know there's a million [productions of "Romeo and Juliet"] going on right now, and there will always be a million going on, but I feel very lucky to be doing this one.

EDGE: What other Shakespearean women might you want to play?

Emilia Suárez: Juliet really is top of the list, so I'm very grateful to be doing it. But I think when I'm a bit older, I would love to do Amelia in "Othello." I'd love to do Cleopatra, and I would love to do Ophelia.

"Romeo and Juliet" runs through October 6 at the American Repertory Theater, Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA. For more information,
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