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Actors in the Aquila Theatre Company will perform their rendition of Romeo & Juliet today at 7:30 p.m. at the Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium.

Anyone can buy a teddy bear or a box of chocolates for his or her valentine, but a vile of poison is much harder to find.

Tonight two star-crossed lovers will engage in a love affair on Templeton-Blackburn Memorial Auditorium’s stage as Aquila Theatre Company presents students with a fresh rendition of the classic Romeo & Juliet.

Aquila Theatre Company is one of the most well known Shakespeare companies in America, said Peter Meineck, artistic director for Aquila. According to the troupe’s Web site, Aquila is made up of a talented British and American ensemble dedicated to classical drama.

Aquila’s Romeo & Juliet adds a playful twist to the traditional classic by having the audience members choose out of a hat which actors play which role.

This is the first time Aquila has engaged the audience in this way, Meineck said. The random selection causes chaos during rehearsals, but it has allowed the show to turn into something truly amazing.

“It’s live theater. You have to reward people for coming to the show and leaving their living rooms and their Xboxes,” Meineck said.

This year, the Office of University Events wanted to go with a traditional theater piece, and the English department was excited when Romeo & Juliet was proposed, said Andrew Holzaepfel, associate director of the Office of University Events.

Samuel Crowl, a Shakespeare expert and OU English professor, said Shakespeare’s plays never go out of style because they incorporate the entire spectrum of human desire and emotion. His work is expressed in some of the greatest language any playwright ever conjured, Crowl said.

As far as the love story, Meineck said there is no doubt that a Romeo-and-Juliet romance is still plausible in today’s world.

“You could find a Protestant and a Catholic, or a Sunni and a Shiite or a black man and a white woman,” Meineck said. “I think the whole idea of people stepping outside of their society is really a powerful thing.”

Crowl said the story still is applicable to today’s world because young people are going to be frustrated when their parents or social rules bind them.

“There is nothing better than secret love,” he said.

Meineck added that students also can relate to the romanticism of the show.

“College is a time when your hormones go crazy. You have love affairs and you fall completely in love and go on passionate romances,” Meineck said.