A Play with a High Level of Professionalism
Review of Romeo y Julieta presented by Seattle Shakespeare Company
Written by Ona York during an Arts Criticism workshop at Glacier Middle School
On May 25 of 2022 I saw the Shakespeare adaption, Romeo y Julieta at Glacier Middle School. They did amazing acting with minimal sets. I was truly impressed with how focused they stayed throughout the entire performance; especially since they were doing it in front of 200 middle schoolers.
The story begins with Romeo finding his way into a party he wasn't invited to. He then meets Julieta and they quickly fall in love. Their love is forbidden because their families are enemies and on top of that Romeo ends up accidentally killing Julieta's cousin! Julieta forms a plan that she will fake her death then she and Romeo can run away together, but she forgets to inform Romeo of her plan. Romeo finds her and thinks she is really dead so he kills himself to be with her. Then Julieta wakes up and finds Romeo dead so she kills herself as well.
The play Romeo y Julieta was done very well. Their acting was amazing and they stayed very focused. They also had good costumes that distinguished the different characters even when the same actor played multiple characters. I think Glacier should see more plays with this level of professionalism. It really benefits students to experience arts in this way.
Although it is cool to perform in the original dialogue, it's hard to understand everything they say and keep up with the story. They should modernize some of the words they use so people can enjoy the play more. Also, it would appeal to the younger audience more and they wouldn't get bored.
In conclusion, this play was truly amazing, but if they were to perform at middle schools more they should modify it to keep kids more interested. I really think everyone would benefit from seeing more plays, especially kids, because we can see things in a new light. This was a great play and highly recommended.
Lead photo credit: Romeo y Julieta by Seattle Shakespeare Company. Photo by Christian Zumbado.
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This review was written as part of an Arts Criticism workshop at Glacier Middle School in Mr. Carlyle Language Arts classes, taught by Press Corps teaching artist Marquicia Dominguez.
