Romeo and Juliet Review

Vijewed on: September 1, 2017

Title of the play: The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet

Author: William Shakespeare

Director: Raphael Massie

Cast:

Romeo - Steven Lee Johnson

Juliet - Courtney Jamison

Mercutio - Martin K. Lewis

Tybalt - Claire Warden

Lord Montague - Andrew Borthwick-Leslie

Lord Capulet - Mark Sage Hamilton

Friar Lawrence - James Andreassi

Romeo and Juliet: How Hate Really Murdered the Two

In the story of Romeo and Juliet, the town of Verona is burdened with two rival families that would rather see each other dead than united under marriage. These families are the Montagues and Capulets, in the beginning, another brawl breaks out between the people of each family causing the royal family to separate the two. The Prince states that whoever shall break out into another fight will be sentenced to death, with this new threat, both family’s stay far away from each other. Romeo and his cousin are planning to go crash the Capulet's dinner party, all is going well until Romeo sets his eyes on the beautiful Juliet. No later do the two fall in love, and later that night, Romeo sneaks into a garden on the Capulets property and sees Juliet speaking to herself about him. It is there, in the stars that the two swear vows and agree to marry. Romeo goes and convinced Friar Lawrence to marry the two, and with Juliet's Nurse’s help, they get the two together at the church. After the marriage, Tybalt challenges Romeo to a duel in which Tybalt kills Mercutio, and in a fit of rage Romeo slays Tybalt and is banished from Verona. Juliet is then being set up to marry Paris when she begs Friar Lawrence to help her get out of it, he gives her a potion that will make her sleep and have the appearance of the dead. He then tells her that he will get Romeo to come and take her away so the two of them can be together. However, the Friars message never arrives and Romeo who, thinking Juliet was dead, buys a poison so he can die and be with her. When he gets to the tomb he meets Paris, whom he says, and then takes the poison himself. Just before he dies Juliet wakes up to see him go. Juliet, now grief stricken stabs herself, the families rush in to see their children dead and they both swear to fix their hatred with each other before anyone else parishes. In this play, the most important theme is that hate can destroy even what love can make. In a way, both the actors and Shakespeare made it prove that no matter the time this theme would be relevant. They wanted us to be able to see what hatred does and be able to fix our mistakes and rivalries before we destroy other people's lives.

The stage was set up so that the actors could get on the ground, and be on the same level as the audience with made it feel more like you were a bystander in the street watching everything take place, then you were an audience member watching a play. They also kept the background mostly the same color which made you focus on the bright costumes and pay more attention to who was wearing what color and keep track of who was on whose side. They also were able to change the lights on the stage to show the color of the family that was most prominent in that scene. Finally, they had music that would pay to signify when there was a transition between the two families. They made sure that the characters that were most important and needed to contrast with someone the most were wearing brighter clothes and were more distinguished in their spot on stage. This was effective because sometimes it got confusing with all the movement and by the costumes, you could tell which actor played each character.

In my opinion, the best actor was Gracy Brown, who played Juliet’s nurse. Nurse was a powerful character that would stand out because of the way that she held herself and the way that she spoke. She would blend in when she needed to and add a little spice when she stood on stage by herself. The actor worked on Nurse by presenting a character that had many different levels, she pulled this off with her body movements and the subtle changes in her voice. She was very prominent when she told the story to Juliet when her mother was getting her ready to be married to Paris. She also showed a completely different side when she was helping Juliet get to Romeo.

In my eyes the play was fantastic. It was good because they mixed some modern day music and actions, even words, into the right places to make it blend more into the twenty-first century. I think that they taught me a lot about presenting yourself in the way that you want to teach the world about who you are and who your character is. Whether you are Juliet or you are just the servant, you have to build the layers up that the real person would have. The play was enjoyable because they included parts where the crowd was involved, for example when Romeo came out and compared the whole crowd to Rosaline. I also learned that you could add different things to each character that maybe the author wouldn’t have put in or the director that really make your interpretation of the character unique. Especially with the idea of having more modern clothes for the costumes.

Overall, the play was a great representation of a lot of things that are happening now that should be resolved, and unfortunately, they are rooted in hate. They also destroy people and their loved ones, it’s always astounding to see just how much another person's emotions can affect the lineage of a family.