When it comes to attraction, love and intimacy, it doesn’t get more iconic than “Romeo and Juliet.” Yet, every production of the Shakespeare classic portrays the physicality of the star-crossed lovers’ romance uniquely — particularly in the “balcony scene” and the post-wedding bedroom scene. In the play’s latest Broadway incarnation, intimacy expands beyond Romeo and Juliet (played by Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler, respectively) and permeates throughout the show’s ensemble. As closeness lies at the core of the story and this production, director Sam Gold hired intimacy director Claire Warden.
Intimacy direction overall has become more standard across the industry, even in just the past five to seven years. Almost a decade ago, Warden teamed up with Alicia Rodis, Tonia Sina and Siobhan Richardson to codify the practice of safety around intimacy in entertainment. The trio founded Intimacy Coordinators and Directors in 2016; Warden is currently the organization’s director of advanced training and has served on 12 Broadway shows, including as the first-ever credited intimacy director on the Main Stem with 2019’s “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.”
Prior to the currently running “Romeo +Juliet” revival, Broadway’s most recent version of the tragedy hit the stage in 2013 — without a credited intimacy specialist. Today, that seems unthinkable. “I think there have been a couple of big shifts,” said Warden. “One is the understanding of why even thinking about this is important — why we should even be having a conversation around consent and sex, and the big societal education that’s been taking place.” Warden credits the #MeToo movement as well as the murder of George Floyd as pivotal catalysts to seriously considering intimacy and the power structures that can impact it in the theater.
