Romeo and Juliet Review

                                                        Romeo and Juliet Review
Title: Romeo and Juliet
Author: William Shakespeare
Date(reviewed date): 9. 1st. 2017
Location: Edgerton Park
Director: Raphael Massie
Major Actors: Romeo-Steven Lee Johnson, Juliet-Courtney Jamison, Mercutio-James Udom, Tybalt-Claire Warden, Friar Lawrence-James Andreassi, Nurse-Gracy Brown

    The play mainly discussed about a love story between two houses which feuded for a long time. Romeo, the heir of Montague, accidentally sneaked into a banquet and fell in love with the daughter of the hostile house, which is the house of Capulet. The next day, with the nurse's help, Romeo and Juliet got married in front of Friar Lawrence, who is friend of them and want to solve the contradiction between the houses. Later then, Romeo met the cousin of Juliet, Tybalt, and she wanted to duel with Romeo. When Romeo refused it, his friend Mercutio thought Romeo was disgraced so he fought for him. "Accidentally", Mercutio got killed by Tybalt; Romeo was furious about this so he rushed to Tybalt and killed her. Because of the behavior of this, Romeo got banishment. At the same time, Juliet was informed that she would be married to another noble who she did not like it. So she feigned death during the wedding day and asked Friar Lawrence to tell Romeo the truth. However, Romeo did not get the truth and he thought Juliet actually died. So he went to the coffin of his wife. In front of the corpse of his wife, he suicided. When Juliet woke up and found the corpse of Romeo, she suicided also. This event brought reconciliation for two houses.
    There are couple themes which appear in the play Love is definitely the most important one. It first appears at the banquet, which Romeo instantly fell in love with Juliet. Later on, the short conversation between them also shows the themes. Love is throughout the play till the end which they both suicided.  Also themes like friendship and violence express in the play. Friendship occurs typically at the part that Mercutio fought for Romeo. Violence also mentions in the play. From the beginning till the very end, it shows from the fight, conversation, and the relationship between two houses. Director Raphael Massie also notes that our world right now also spread with anger and bigotry, and he wanted to use this play to recall others' humanity.
    By using fit background music, costumes, and light, this play brings a deep impression for audience. Every characters wear the appropriate costumes. For the nobles, they have the fancy clothing. In order to embodying the beauty of Juliet, she gets an alluring skirt. The sound is also a important part for this play. When the play wants to build a cold atmosphere, then the sound of lightning rose. In the play, in order to let audience identify the important part of play easily, the lighting takes the responsibility for it. For example, before the banquet, the stage looks dark and only  has a few beams of light. But when the main characters talk, the light will then concentrate on them. On Romeo, all the staging can best be described. After the party, when he walked on the path alone, the light follows him. Also there are some bird tweets when Romeo walked in the morning. Nurse and Lady Capulet are standing at the opposite. While Nurse is talkative, Lady Capulet does not speak a lot. While Lady Capulet refused Juliet to meet with Romeo, Nurse supports her.
    In my opinion, Gracy Brown, which is the actor of nurse acts the best in the play. Through her words, body movement and facial expression, the character nurse looks more like a actual person compared to other actors. For example, when Juliet sent nurse to talk with Romeo and she came back, she walked really slowly, looked tired, and waved fan endlessly. Through the act, audience could understand that nurse pretended that this job was hard and she was proud of herself and wanted some rewards.
    It is a fantastic play, I love the plot of the story and the act of the characters. Romeo and Juliet's death as a finishing touch is surprisingly but it is a good ending. Because in the play, when people die, there will be angels around them and put on pure white clothing for them; they look peacefulness and I think Romeo and Juliet will find their happiness in the heaven. By watching this play, I learn that every characters are connected to others. If one character wrongs, it will influence others. Also, I notice that staging like lighting and sound, which I ignored them before, is a really important part; without them, the play will not be perfect.