Unit 131 On Stage!

W: Love.

Hate. Death. These things are at the heart of Shakespeare's famous tragedy, Romeo and Juliet. The St. Stephens High School drama club performed this play last weekend. Romeo and Juliet is the story of two families, the Capulets and the Montagues, who are bitter enemies. Tragedy follows when the son of one falls in love with the daughter of the other. The play is set in Verona, Italy, in the late 16 th century. Allison Bourne played Juliet, Capulet's beautiful young daughter. She showed the mixed emotions Juliet felt after secretly marrying the son of her family's most hated enemy. At times, she was happy, and at times, she was afraid. David Taylor played Romeo, Montague's son. He put on a good performance despite having a head cold. His lines were said with great feeling in a clear voice. Eric Parker was the perfect Tybalt: dark and angry. Maggie Jones played the nurse. She acted the part of a gossipy old woman very well. She made everyone in the audience laugh at her jokes and her comic character. The whole cast showed enthusiasm in every scene. The actors knew the meaning of their lines. They used body language to show this meaning well. The stage lights were sometimes too bright or too dim. But the sword fights looked very real, and the costumes were wonderful. Overall, St. Stephens' production of Romeo and Juliet was a great night of high school theater.