Heres Much To Do With Hate, but More With Love
Heres a riddle what have The Proclaimers, Elvis, and Grease to do with Shakespeare? Answer: Romeo and Juliet! Within ten minutes The Young Shakespeare Company had every FHS Year 9 girl enthusiastically promising to walk a thousand miles alongside Count Paris in an attempt to woo Capulets fair daughter.
The scene: FHS hall. The time: 2.15pm on Tuesday 21st February. A day like any other, except that it wasnt. These young actors really know how to engage adolescent girls minds. They kicked off their show with a mickey-take black leotards and nasal humming, frolicking around in a parody of contemporary dance. Faces fell and the afternoon looked like it might drag on a bit. But whats this? The whole company burst out laughing and assured us they werent going to stage the greatest love story ever told in this ridiculous fashion. Instead, they were going to set their rendition of Romeo and Juliet in a school, a bit like this one.
With just the right amount of interaction star turns from five of our girls in minor roles three young men and two young women brought Romeo and Juliet dynamically to life, delivering a pacy and edgy tragedy, laced with hilarious black humour, challenging expectations and pre-conceptions throughout. By the end of the afternoon the girls were convinced of the relevance of this timeless play and how the line between love and hate has never been harder to negotiate.
Dr de Bono
English department
To see more photos, please scroll down.
Charlotte-Rose, UIV
On Tuesday the 21st of February in the afternoon, all of the Upper Fourth year went into the hall filled with anticipation. The Young Shakespeare Company had come to perform their version of Romeo and Juliet. They started rather strangely and we all began to question whether they were being serious, however they explained to us that, with Shakespeare, you have to be serious, but not milk it. They told us about the different strategies they had thought about in rehearsals. We were all intrigued. We have been studying the play in our English lessons but actors bringing it to life seemed to renew our thoughts about what the play could be, about how it didnt always have to be old Verona where it was originally set. The actors talked to us and asked us about our thoughts and opinions. It made it more relevant to us and being talked to instead of just told really made us listen.
When the play started, our eyes were glued to the actors. They had decided to set their version in modern day, with teenagers in school as Romeo and Juliet. This, again, brought the play down to our level instead of keeping us guessing. It was heartfelt from the outset and what made it amazing was that, even in modern day, they kept the Shakespearean language so we actually learned about the real language of the play. At the end, when the star-crossed lovers die for love, it was so emotional I cried. It was beautiful, although Im biased, (its my favourite Shakespeare play). I do have a few criticisms, however. The only problem with setting it in a school is that it is hard to believe someone would be murdered, Mercutios death, therefore, was perhaps less realistic. Also, the feud was not quite as prominent. Sometimes it simply seemed like petty squabbles rather than a proper age old fight, but maybe thats just me. However, it was excellently done and performed very well. Thank you, teachers!
Charlotte-Rose Allan, UIVM
