IF YOU GO

What: Clear Stage Cincinnati's production of Romeo & Juliet When: 8 p.m. Friday and 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday Where: Jarson-Kaplan Theater, Aronoff Center for the Arts, 650 Walnut St., downtown Tickets: $16 , $14 seniors, $12 students at (513) 621-2787 or www.cincinnatiarts.org

The production is also nonconventional in that it features two young women playing the traditionally male roles of Tybalt and the Prince, and Benvolio has a female understudy (Linzie Greiwe). Why? "Because of all the people that read for those parts, whether they were male or female, they were the ones that fit," says director Gina Cerimele-Mechley. "They had the fire that I was looking for, they had the look I was looking for."

As Clear Stage prepared for its second weekend of performances, we asked some of the cast and crew to share their favorite modern adaptations of Romeo & Juliet - and found a chorus of agreement.

• Melissa Bennett, 24, Monfort Heights (Tybalt/scenic designer and carpenter): "My favorite is Baz Luhrmann's version (1996's Romeo + Juliet) - I enjoy the clever ways he updated the movie while still being true to the script's language (e.g., "Sword" being the brand name of the guns used as weapons). "

• Kristin Clippard, 25, Colerain Township (the Prince/company manager): "As far as movies go, I would have to go with the Baz Luhrmann version, mostly because it puts it into such a fresh and modern context that it's so much easier for kids to understand it."

• Katie Horwitz, 17, Amberley Village (directing intern): "I enjoyed Baz Luhrmann's rendition not necessarily because of the acting, but because it gets teenagers interested in what Shakespeare's really about."

E-mail lbishop@enquirer.com