Romeo and Juliet Play Review

The play of famous tragedy Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, directed by Raphael Massie, was presented to the public by Elm Shakespeare Company on September 2ed. The play is a story that took place in Verona. There was a big conflict between two merchant families, Montagues, and Capulets. The eldest son of the Montagues family, Romeo went into the party of Capulets without invitation. He and his cousin were planning on making a mess on the party. However, he fell in love with Juliet, the daughter of the Capulets. He accidentally went to Juliet’s garden and their love towards each other grew more as they talk more and more with each other. Romeo then asked Friar Lawrence to manage a wedding for him and Juliet. They got married soon. Nevertheless, Juliet's cousin Tybalt challenged Romeo and was refused by him. Mercutio, Romeo’s best friend fought with Tybalt and was killed by her. Romeo revenge for Mercutio and killed Tybalt in return of Mercutio’s life. Romeo has banished from Verona afterward. Meanwhile, Juliet’s parents kept forcing her to marry with the wealthy Paris. Juliet went to Friar Lawrence and get the medicine that can help her to “die” for two days and wake up healthily. Friar Lawrence also sent someone to tell the information to Romeo. Unfortunately,  Romeo did not get the message and found Juliet died in the grave. Paris was in the grave too and he tried to keep Romeo away from Juliet. Romeo fought with Paris and killed him. He took the poison to die with Juliet. At this very moment, Juliet woke up and found Romeo dying in front of her. She suicides and died too. When everyone arrived at the grave, Friar Lawrence explained the whole process to them. Now that both Montagues and Capulets family had lost their dearest child, they decided not to fight anymore. They did not want any more people to die for the hatred between two families. In my opinion, the play’s theme is that the hatred can only bring sadness to people. We should let the power of love help us feel better of the world instead of blindly kill each other.

In the show, Romeo was played by Steven Lee Johnson. Juliet was played by Courtney Jamison. The customs in the show was old-fashioned. That made the audience understand this is a show happened in the last century. The lighting of the stage was used to help the audience understand the timeline within the play, the daytime, and nighttime. The music choices were very suitable to the show. As the show goes on, the music began to be sadder than it did in the beginning of the show. I really liked the role of Juliet’s nurse in the show. The role was played by Gracy Brown. She was quite an important role in the show. She helped Romeo and Juliet to keep touch with each other. She also helped Juliet to go to the church and marry Romeo. The character was full of caring to Juliet. She also had lots humorous lines that kept the show not only sad but also amusing at lots points.

One character that was played differently than the way I thought she would be was Juliet. In my opinion, Juliet was quiet and shy. She was still a child. Regardless of her crazy love with Romeo, she still should be the less aggressive in the relationship. However, in the show, Juliet was totally energetic. She shows her love directly to Romeo. Compare to the other versions of performance I had seen, the Juliet in this show was a lot more outgoing and naughty than any others. I do not know if that is what Shakespeare wanted Ruliet to be. But for me, it was quite disappointing.

Overall, I like the show. It was easy to understand. At the same time, every detail in the show can tell the audience how hard they worked before they actually put the show on stage to people. Most of the characters did not have thick cloth on during the show. It was extremely cold outside. The spirit of performing is what I highly respect too.