2 Households, 2 Assholes: Shakespeare's R & J
nytheatre.com review by Leslie Bramm
August 11, 2012
Straight from Nashville this year's FringeNYC is lucky to have Dos Munoz’s production of 2 Households 2 Assholes, which of course is their way of saying Romeo and Juliet. Samuel Munoz and Aaron Munoz are our 2 assholes and Romeo and Juliet respectively. They bang this gem out in a fast 60 minutes. Since we all know the story of these star crossed lovers I won’t write a synopsis. Instead I’d like to tell you how talented these two men are. Both have a command of the Bard’s language and are able to execute the nuance of the poetry. Vital for a good production of Shakespeare. They play 20 characters between them. Play with each other. Play with themselves, and play with the audience. Making this one of the most imaginative adaptations of the Bard’s play I’ve seen in a long time. Subtle twists of the body, or a readjustment of a costume, and they transform quickly into Tybalt, Mercutio, Benvolio, Lady Capulet and the Nurse. I was truly amazed when they were required to act with themselves, or when they were as many as 6 characters on stage, and they bounded back and forth between them with poise.
Both Munoz and Munoz are physically dexterous; illustrated in the sword fights they have with each other, with imaginary characters, and even by themselves. The play is self directed, and since no credit is given to a choreographer I’m going to guess they handled this as well. They are well trained in combat and extreme physicality and their hard work shows. While they played the play for all the comedy that’s in it, the love scenes, and the death scenes were both dramatic and poignant. On top of all their other skills, they’re damn good actors.
You may be wondering the same thing I am. Are these two guys related? Brothers? Cousins, or just two assholes with the same last name. There was a talk back afterward where I imagine this question was answered, but I did not stay for that. I didn’t want my review or my infatuation with this production tainted by reality.
Do yourselves a favor. Go see this show. You’ll leave light on your feet, and more than a little inspired.
