Romeo and Juliet Performance Reflection

Written by Joy, 8th Grade Parker Middle School student of Reading, MA. Her original post can be found here.

“Two households, both alike in dignityIn fair Verona, where we lay our scene” 

These familiar words rang out through our school auditorium as I shifted in my seat to get a view of the actor projecting the lines. From the lines of the prologue onward, the actors jumped on and off the stage, fought with daggers, and professed their characters’ love, among other things. This was all part of a performance put on by a group called Shakespeare Now!when they visited our school this week. They put on the play Romeo and Juliet, perfectly timed with the point where we finished reading it in class. Personally, I enjoyed the performance. The way the script was interpreted was interesting, the way the story was played out was exciting, and the actors’ speaking and actions were animated. 

In many different performances, movies, and different formats of Romeo and Juliet, the script is used, changed, preserved, and interpreted in different ways. I think the way that the script was interpreted in this performance was interesting. While they omitted many of the lines so that the play could be roughly one hour, they preserved most of what was important in the play. One interesting choice was not to have Paris be killed at the graveyard. This might have been seen as important, but the play still worked and flowed without it. This choice and a few others, large and small, together made the performance somewhat different but in essence the same as the original script. 

I also thought it was exciting to watch and think about the way the story played out. Even though I had already read the play, there was something different about seeing it acted out in front of me. The actors did a great job of making each event exciting in a different way from when I read the play, in a more real way. With the actors on the stage, in front of me, or in the balcony, essentially all around me, it was a much different experience to watch from the experience of reading the play. As soon as the play started, there was a lot of action, energy, and drama. All of this really contributed to the life and excitement of the story. 

What helped make the play so exciting to watch was the fact that the actors’ speaking and actions were animated. Their voices were loud and full of emotion, bringing the play to life as if they wanted the whole world to hear them. While there were not an abundance of stage directions in the play, the actors’ movements made the events seem more realistic. Romeo, Bevolio, and Mercutio kidded around with each other, slapping each other on the back. Lord Capulet’s motions when he slapped Juliet seemed almost real. Juliet’s words were frantic at one moment, loving at the next, and at all other moments some other emotion in between the two was conveyed. In the movements and speaking of the characters mentioned and every other character in the play, there was animation, volume, and emotion. 

After all of the six actors joined to recite the final lines, the applause began. The applause was well deserved. Even though the actors hadn’t performed the play in a month, they still put all of their hearts into the characters, into their unique version of the script, into their actions and words, into the story of Romeo and Juliet.

For more examples, visit the blog of Reading English teacher, Steve Olivo who has been using blogs as his platform for student writing since the 2009-2010 academic year.