Romeo and Juliet

Arranged marriage, desperately opposed by the 13-year-old bride, who’s secretly married a guy her father would never approve of due to a family feud: It’s a recipe for tragedy with collateral damage—something director Sharon Winegar pursues with tight focus in this linear, relatively traditional production. Juliet (Lenne Klingaman) and Romeo (Brandon Petty) meet, woo, marry and die—all in a matter of days. Winegar heightens the sense of doom by adding several silent, black-clad, masked figures, who observe like waiting vultures during several critical scenes. The production also features good performances in the roles of the bragging Mercutio (Scott Coopwood), and hothead swordsman Tybalt (Barzin Akhavan), also Friar Laurence (Michael Stevenson) and the usually obscure servant Peter (a brilliant turn by Albert Dayan).
Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays; $22-$67 midweek, $27-$72 weekend. Alternating with The Taming of the Shrew at Sand Harbor on the Nevada shoreline; (800) 74-SHOWS, www.laketahoeshakespeare.com. Through August 19.