The Fantasticks

The shows put on by Eastern Washington University’s theatre department each quarter are entirely student-based, from actors to director and from music to lighting. This fall, theater students have chosen to produce one of the longest-running musicals in the world, The Fantasticks, first performed in 1960 and continuing off-Broadway for 42 consecutive years. Its plot is partly based on Romeo and Juliet, but twisted to portray the lovers’ fathers tricking their two offspring to fall in love, rather than forcing them apart. Once this scheme is revealed, the couple separate, only to find that in the end they want to be together. It’s a delightful allegorical tale, paired with a score that transports theatergoers into an untraditional love story.