a) Did you feel that this was a good adaptation of Shakespeare's orignal work? Why, why not?
I thought that the Sr school’s RSGC adaptation of Shakespeare’s original work was very good. I thoroughly enjoyed each scene and I liked how they were able to modernize it more with technology and bikes and still keep the same theme, which Shakespeare had. It was very cool to see how they were able to add their own elements, such as the band and props and strobe lights. You could tell this production was very well rehearsed and taken seriously by all of the actors in play. The play was a lot better than I expected it to be, infact at the end of the second performance I even heard a pair of woman say it felt like they were in a Stratford production. The lighting impressed me because they had colorful, florescent and strobe lights set to angle in all different parts of Ketchum Hall. The costumes were ok; I thought this because most of the costumes were clothes you would see people wearing on the street. But it did fit the theme of the production seeing as the idea was adapt Romeo and Juliet to a more modernized version. In compassion to Shakespeare’s original work of Romeo and Juliet the costumes were much more casual, because in the original version they were more elegant, baggy, and clothes you would see people with a lot of wealth wearing.
b) Which performances did you feel were the strongest? Why?
I thought that Romeo and Juliet had the best performances, and impacted the audience and me the most because we were able to develop a relationship with them. I find that each time I read a book at the beginning I’m not that interested if something good or bad happens to the main characters, but if something drastic happens half way through or after even after the climax I care a lot more about it and take it into more depth because I have developed a relationship with them and have gone through everything they have conquered in the book. That is why I believe that the characters, which played Romeo and Juliet, made the stronger performance compared to the smaller characters and when they died at the end for one another it meant more because you had witnessed everything they had been through.
c) Was the costuming and lighting appropriate?
The lighting was very impressive, before I attended the play I figured that there would be one light facing the stage, which might have had different elements of brightness. But, as I was watching the production I found out that not only were there lights facing the stage, but also the middle of Ketchum hall and in-between the two stages. The costumes worn by the main characters were quite casual, jeans and a bike shirt. But, some of the costumes weren’t as casual, Romeo’s fathers’ priest outfit.
d) Do you think the music enhanced the play? Why/why not?
The music was definitely a big factor to the play, which enhanced it greatly. Many of the songs were by Jimi Hendrix and some of his most famous songs. I thought it was very cool to have a live band playing music as appose to listening to music off of a stereo for a computer or cassette. While intense scenes were taking place; like the fight between Romeo and Marcutio it made to the scene better by having music playing in the background. I felt that the music chosen for each scene was a good choice and fit the scene perfectly.
e) Give a rating out of 5 for the play.
I would rate the Sr school RSGC production of Romeo and Juliet 4 stars out of 5. My reasoning for this is because I thought it was a great play and it definitely exceeded my expectations. The music, lighting, and costumes were all good and made the play present to the best it could be. The acting was excellent; the characters were all using pantomime movements and expressions and at all time were in character. It was easy to understand, even if you don’t have a back round with Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which I liked a lot because I have only seen the new version with Leonardo Dicaprio and Claire Danes. If I were to give some constructive criticism I would say that if they wanted to take it a step up they could have used more props or scene backgrounds. Over all I thought that it was a very good play and I would have recommended it to people grade 9 and up because Shakespeare’s literature can be hard to understand at times.
