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Director Aaron Posner says he was drawn to Romeo and Juliet “because of sex and violence, just like everybody else.” Evergreen themes those are indeed, but when his version of the tragedy opens tonight at the Folger Elizabethan Theatre, it may feel especially contemporary: Rehearsals were interrupted by the Navy Yard shooting in September and the Capitol Hill lockdown last week. With this version, Posner’s going for simple and “low-concept”; there’s a small cast (which includes Posner’s wife and fellow Helen Hayes Award winner Erin Weaver alongside newcomer Michael Goldsmith) and no epic sword fights or, thankfully, hip-hop interludes. But it still offers plenty of opportunities to contemplate modern-day violence—albeit in iambic pentameter. The play runs Oct. 15 to Dec. 1 at the Folger Elizabethan Theatre, 201 E. Capitol St. SE. $30–$72. (202) 544-4600. folger.edu.