2 out of 5 stars

Perhaps there’s a case to be made for reconceiving “Romeo and Juliet” as a border-town story in the troubling age of ICE. But this Saheem Ali-directed production – the first in the summer’s Delacorte offerings – doesn’t make it. Sure, it’s well-intentioned, but it offers nothing more than surface gestures – say, anti-ICE graffiti – as a way to telegraph its message, so everything starts to feel like virtue signaling rather than a thought-out statement. And while the cast goes back and forth between Spanish and English that doesn’t underscore any message by itself, either. Thankfully, at least the cast is mostly solid. — Charles Passy (Production photo credit (also on home page): Joan Marcus)

Presented by the Public Theater at Central Park’s Delacorte Theater, through June 28, 2026; publictheater.org.(Review date: June 13, 2026)