Director David Lear always knew we would somehow make his latest dream happen, and as of last weekend, his mission was officially accomplished, as Shakespeare’s "Romeo & Juliet" opened a month-long theatrical run at a brand new open air performance space in downtown Santa Rosa. Under the umbrella of Lear’s new Vacant Lot productions - staged with a crowd-pleasing blend of urban-grunge and Ren-Faire bawdiness - "Romeo and Juliet" kicks off the inaugural season of Shakespeare in the Cannery. The shows are taking place inside a brand new performance area Lear and a small army of volunteers have constructed, tucked just inside the ruined remains of the old cannery building at the edge of Railroad Square. The historic site, which in recent years has devolved into a debris-choked homeless encampment, has now been transformed into an one-of-a-kind open-air park, with a multi-level wooden stage erected at the center of the lot, the brick walls of the old cannery bracketing the truly atmospheric performance space. On opening night, armed with lawn chairs and blankets, about fifty theatergoers gathered to witness Lear’s Kot Takahashi, as Romeo, fall hard for Juliet, played by Carmen Mitchel. Staged with an eye to fill the sprawling outdoor space with sound and action, Lear’s version puts a lot of emphasis on the spectacle, oversized emotions, and not-so-vaguely-inappropriate sexuality in Shakespeare’s tale. In telling the story of two doomed teenagers from feuding families, Shakespeare used soaring poetry and some over-the-top plotting that Lear takes full advantage of. With a kind of street-smart commedia performance style, the cast is costumed in a blend of modern dress and old world finery, tennis shoes paired with doublets, bring something new to a very old tale, much the way Lear and his unstoppable dream have taken a vacant lot most others saw as lost, and somehow transformed it into a field of dreams few others thought possible. Building something new out of nothing is, of course, a big part of what makes theater exciting, and just a few dozen yards from the cannery ruins, in the studio at 6th Street Playhouse, 18-year-old actor-playwright-director Dezi Gallegos has just launched his newest project. "Hamlet’s Orphans," created by Gallegos with a team of kids aged 9 to 14, is a truly ambitious, idea-packed drama launched from the true-life stories and struggles of the members of the fearless, supremely talented young cast. Unlike any other youth theater production I've ever seen, "Hamlet’s Orphans," is over-reaching, overwrought, and sometimes a little too bursting at the seams with ideas - but at the same time, it is deeply moving, riveting, frequently jaw-dropping in its skill at putting so many competing ideas into one story. The result is a tense, philosophically tricky examination of the meaning of goodness and evil, played out as a group of students rehearse a production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. On a spare set decorated with dozens of scrawled “rules” of good behavior, Gallegos and his troupe of young artists work out a bold, daring, unruly tale of love, obsession, and longing to make the world a better place. As exciting as a theater built from scratch out of a vacant lot, "Hamlet’s Orphans" rides on a wave of enthusiasm and commitment to making something that, rough around the edges or not, no one has quite ever seen before. "Romeo and Juliet" runs Friday & Saturday through Aug. 23 at The Cannery - shakespeareinthecannery.com. "Hamlet’s Orphans" runs Thursday-Sunday through July 27 at 6th Street Playhouse - 6thstreet playhouse.org