Romeo and Juliet portrayed with a twsit
It’s the story of Romeo and Juliet with a twist – “fair Verona” is Verona High School, set in the modern day. The conflict is between two groups we have seen in high school before, the preppy-athletic group and the more artsy, band folk. The Shakespearean language, thankfully, stays mostly intact.
The set is a swirl of maroon and yellow, complete with a school logo on the floor and lockers on either side. The most impressive part being the bleachers, as they are turned and moved from scene to scene.
Another deviance from the typical “Romeo and Juliet” comes with a female Mercutio, played by Amy Lewis. She was probably my favorite character. She plays the outspoken hotheaded character to a T.
The traditional comic-relief in the play, the nurse, played by Kathy Bateman, did not let me down with her ramblings.
Romeo, played by John Nicholas Nielson, and Juliet, played by Katie Ackerman, can both be recognized from their performances in “Ah! Wilderness.” As in every Shakespearean play, the action between these two lovers develops quickly, and the famous balcony scene is played from the top of the bleachers, not a bad change considering the high school setting.
There were, however, a few drawbacks to the play. I thought that the characters seemed stiff and perhaps unsure of some of the their lines. I sat in the second to back row and a couple of times, the characters were hard to understand for one of two reasons: They were either too drowned out by the music or they slurred their words together. There were also times I wanted them to be more dramatic in the delivery of their lines.
Although traditionally much of the play seems to speed along, I occasionally found myself lost in the narrative when the characters lost expression. And the first act was lengthy.
This play provided a commendable picture of light and dark contrasts and interesting foreshadowing that will be apparent to the keen observer.
With a little more polish, the play and its performers will give a good portrayal of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
GRADE: B