Insults and shouts flooded the stage as Capulets and Montagues collided in a flurry of rakes and spades. The comical battle erupted as actors brought Romeo and Juliet to life.

“I’ve said I was ?the least nervous I’ve been’ before this last show because I knew we had some good comedic elements,” Tom McEntee, drama director, said. “Most of our ideas worked to get the audience to laugh. Comedies definitely appeal more to the audience on campus.”

The classic Shakespeare play unfolded at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in downtown Fresno on March11. During the annual fine arts event parents and students came to see the revised tragedy.

McEntee tried to chose a plot that would include many members and revised the tragedy.

“The first thing I look for is an appropriate sized cast for my drama classes,” McEntee said. “I want a lot of people to be involved.”

After performing in a variety of plays, drama students compare past performances to this year’s shows and their experiences.

“I think this was the drama’s best performance sine I’ve been at Fresno Christian,” Doug DenHartog, ’05, said. “Chris White [’05] is an excellent actor. He is one of, if not the best [actors] this year.”

The play involved many male and female actors with leading roles.

“We had many great performances and I don’t think the play relied on one or two people,” McEntee said. “I was especially pleased with some of the breakout roles played by girls. I want them to have more stage time.”

Amanda Dring, ’06, who stared as Juliet, was surprised by the variations in the classic drama.

“Playing Juliet was fun and I enjoyed working with Chris [White] and Allison [Shockley, ’05],” Dring said. “I thought Romeo and Juliet was going to be serious and ?lovey dovey,’ but it wasn’t.”

Actors were given chances to stretch their roles to give the play a more comedic genre.

“I like playing funny parts in plays and I know that’s what the audience wants,” Dring said. “I believe we have a lot of talent in our drama classes.”

While some actors may have trouble remembering lines, some just have trouble saying them.

“It was hard for me to project my voice,” DenHartog said. “And [hard to] use the voice/ accent I wanted to use during the high school performance.”

Eric Neufeld, ’05, thought the play would not be too appeasing to the audience.

“I underestimated the response from the crowd,” Neufeld said. “They seemed to enjoy it a lot.”

Cooperation from all the actors seemed to help the play to run smoothly.

“Everyone was on the ball which made it flow very well,” Neufeld said. “I think we put the most work into it with sets and costumes and such.”

The drama class will next be presenting the play, Behold the Man, April first with White as Pilate and Shockley as Pilate’s wife.