FERNDALE, Mich. Re-interpreting Shakespeare into modern contexts is a fraught business. We aren’t talking about “West Side Story,” which drew on the story of Romeo and Juliet, and used a new modern language book and score. We are talking about keeping The Bard’s iambic pentameter and moving the story into the 21st century with smartphones, dropped-in references to Snapchat and other modernisms.

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Add to that kettle of risk casting an actress as Romeo and making the lovers lesbians, with Juliet referring to her “wife,” and, well, it can be exciting to be sitting in the theatre watching the creativity and imagination of the writer and director mashing up with Shakespeare to create something new out of something so old.

The Slipstream Initiative was not satisfied with that level of risk, they also promote the show as being a riff on the election results and the Montagues and Capulets shadowing the Clintons and Trumps.

That was certainly good marketing. But, frankly, the clearest nod to the about-to-be first family and the former first family is the delicious and infamous line, delivered twice: It is “a plague on both your houses.” And so it has been. And so it is. And so it will be.

But from there, it is hard to put together the characters with their real-life shadows without a scorecard. I found myself trying to figure it out throughout the show, which was a bit of a distraction from an otherwise excellent, funny, provocative take on the tragic couple. It was a bit like looking for Alfred Hitchcock’s cameo in some of his early movies.

For the record: Ivanka Trump is the inspiration for Ladie (Laura Heikkinen; Juliet (Kaitlyn Valor Bourque) is modeled after Tiffany Trump; Tybalt (Ryan Ernst) is inspired by Donald trump Jr.; Nat (Mandy Logsdon) is modeled after Eric Trump. Then, there was Romeo (Tiaja Sabrie) who is modeled after Chelsea Clinton.

When I say “modeled,” director Bailey Boudreau says that the shadows and lines between the characters and real people were drawn with a number-three pencil so as to not have the juiciness of all that overshadow the story or the acting. Paris (Graham Todd) for example, does not show up with a helmet of orange hair. Mercutio (Maxim Vinogradov) and Benvolio (Jackson Abohasira)? Maybe Steve Bannon and Kelly Conway? Dr. Lawrence (Luna Alexander) subs for Friar Lawrence in Shakespeare’s story. Her parallel? Hmmm.

The two story set, designed by Ryan Ernst is simple and hard working, and Juliet’s bed chamber above and the cemetery crypt that reveals itself in the end are quite good design touches and executions.

The chemistry between Ms. Sabrie and Ms. Valor Bourque is sexy and playful as they frequently climb one another and kiss. They do an excellent job of selling the premise, and the way Ms. Sabrie plays her Romeo as a somewhat awkward “I can’t believe my good fortune to have scored such a hot girl” tragic hero is refreshing.

Messrs.  Vinogradov and Abohasira also show good stage chemistry, which is not surprising as they have shared the stage a few times before. Abohasira especially stood out after Mercutio’s death (c’mon, that is not a spoiler in 2017!), convincingly conveying his sorrow and fear. Ms. Logsdon, who I originally thought was supposed be modeled on Tiffany Trump, plays her awkwardness to amusing, but also heartfelt, heartstrings as the Eric inspiration. She also shook the intimate space with a blood curdling wail when she discovered Juliet apparently dead (another non-spoiler, so no nonsense or indignation in the comment section).

I’m not sure that it is better to have a scorecard for the whole “Clinton-Trump thing” at the start, or if artistically it is giving too much away. The reality of this fine show, though, is that the current-day politics parallel it is a sub-sub text anyway, and you might shortchange yourself by dwelling on it.

The important takeaway is that there is, indeed, a plague upon both their houses amidst the blood and death. Several bits and speeches have been omitted from the play, as the running time is about 1 hour and 22 minutes without intermission. If it can said that there is a somewhat breezy interpretation of Romeo and Juliet, this may well be it.

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