In order to take on a challenge, Romeo and Juliet was performed by the “Feast of Fools” drama troupe of Bullard High School on Oct. 29 and 30 and Nov. 5-7.
As an audience member, I could tell that the performance impressed the crowd and they showed tremendous love for the actor’s comedy and different recitation of the commonly reenacted words. Each person took their part seriously as anyone could tell and showed the greatest of their abilities in a very professional manner.
Though I’ve watched Romeo and Juliet performed and read it many times before, I felt it kind to pay respects to the actors and watch what they spent long and arduous hours in practice for.
The acting was far beyond what I expected though and the group made a life-like show. I felt as if I were watching the scenes in the day when they happened rather than kids trying to put something on for a group of parents.
Shakespeare intended his plays to be true for any day though they come from England’s 17th century. Many of the ideas are relevant even in today’s society despite the old English terms.
The play is about love-smitten teenagers who go against their parents’ wishes to marry each other and live a happy life even though their families argue incessantly about everything. The monk who marries them hopes to become somewhat of a savior to the town by stopping the feuding in uniting the families. But nothing of the sort occurs.
The play itself is an extremely bold task to take when deciding to perform it for any audience because most people read it freshmen year of high school and catch easily any error made.
Some hilarious scenes in the play include parts in which Mercutio and his followers parade around the stage talking about Romeo and his little love affairs. The actor, Johanus I. A. T. Reijnders (Mercutio), ’11, showed sensational showmanship in his interpretation of the rowdy group. His use of the Venetian mask was phenomenal in that he added more laughter to the play with the elongated nose while “showing” Romeo’s lust for Juliet.
Ultimately, the act showed great understanding of the theme in the play and the actors and actresses emphasized the words in such a way one might believe they came from that time period.
The cast kept everyone on their seats the whole time, especially Ashley Sowden, ’10, who played the Nurse.
However, the play had its weak parts as well. It seemed some of the actors just sat there when everyone was on the stage and acted as if they didn’t want to be a part of festivities. But when at a party one generally wants to be included and tries to make themself feel so. Overall though the play was a great success.
The next play Bullard’s “Feast of Fools” will be performing is “Murder on Center Stage” which will run Jan. 27-30. It will be shown at 7:30 p.m. To attend a Bullard High School performance, visit their Web site.
For more articles by Ocheltree, a FC transfer, visit his archive page.