There is a lot to like about Saheem Ali’s new production of Romeo & Juliet at the Delacorte Theater.  The scenic design by Maruti Evans is stunning.  Two enormous statues, one of the Virgin Mary, one of a smiling Grim Reaper, loom over a slatted screen wall (more on that later).  The pairing evokes the inevitable tragedy of the play, after which Montague (Jason Manuel Olazábal) promises Capulet (Glenn Fleshler) he will honor his daughter with a “statue in pure gold.”  These statues are marble white.  On their wedding night, Romeo (Daniel Bravo Hernández) and Juliet (Ra’Mya Latiah Aikens) sleep in a literal bed of flowers, a beautiful touch considering the production is surrounded by the greenery of Central Park.  By the time we see their deathbed, a castle of pink candles, the sun has gone down.

There’s more: the costume design by Oana Botez, in particular the party scene, with its feathers and flowers and candy-striped devil’s horns.  The use of Spanish between Romeo and Juliet, in a translation by Alfredo Michel Modenessi, an inspired touch, a natural meeting of style and content (“¡Habla de nuevo, ángel de luz!”).  As part of the Public Stories program, government workers come onstage and tell stories before the show.  At the performance I attended, Francis Jue (Friar Lawrence) married a couple from the audience.

Still, there is one significant flaw to this revival: Ali stages Romeo & Juliet with explicit references to the concentration camps on the U.S.-Mexico border.  The Montagues wear black leather.  The Capulets speak Spanish and include anti-ICE protesters.  Juliet delivers her most famous monologue from a balcony above the slatted screen wall.  But despite a few (loud) choices, the production doesn’t really justify this decision.  The first words we hear are that the Montagues and the Capulets are “Two households, both alike in dignity.”  Without substantial changes to the material, the power dynamics Ali attempts to illustrate are not borne out in the text.  Without a coherent interpretation, the actors have nowhere to put their passion.

Romeo & Juliet runs through June 28th at the Delacorte Theater.  81 Central Park West  New York, NY. 2 hours 40 minutes. One intermission. Photograph by Joan Marcus.