The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo & Juliet will be staged at the Empress Theatre on June 1-3 at 7 p.m. by the F.P. Walshe school drama class in conjunction with the Empress Theatre Society.
“This play was chosen by the students,” explained Graham MacBean, drama teacher and play director. “This play is very different from last year’s production of The Velveteen Rabbit. Our primary goal is education, so we wish to expose the students to a wide range of acting challenges and styles.”
The cast of 20 students are performing the original text of Shakespeare, edited slightly for length and clarity.
Some effort was also made to balance the number of lines more evenly amongst the cast — though only the most vigilant purists will be able to spot the changes.
Shakespeare’s plays are still relevant today, MacBean said.
“Human nature has not changed in 400 years, so while the language and dress are different than the time when the play was originally written, we are making every effort to discover what the characters are really doing, feeling, and thinking in each moment,” MacBean said. “This approach humanizes Shakespeare’s characters, so we see them as real people.”
MacBean is confident in his students’ abilities to pull off Shakespeare, whose plays can be complex to learn.
“Many directors don’t have faith that student actors can handle Shakespeare, or that audiences will connect with the material,” MacBean said. “I have not found this to be the case. We’re aiming for audiences to come on a journey with us to the past, rather than dragging Shakespeare to the present.”
All of the students are from the Grade 10, 11, and 12 drama classes, with the addition of one eager Grade 7 student who joins after school.
One student is the stage manager, while all the other cast members are taking on acting roles and filling tech responsibilities when not on stage.
MacBean and the cast spend roughly 10 hours a week rehearsing the play —around 160 hours total.
However, many additional hours are spent memorizing lines and doing other technical tasks such as painting or costuming.
The largest time commitment has been spent on the stage combat scenes, which takes an hour of rehearsal time for every five seconds of time on stage.
There are seven combative exchanges in the play.
“Since I am working with students — some of whom have had no previous experience — and we are using metal swords, we needed to take even longer to make sure everyone was safe,” MacBean explained.
Tickets are at macleodempress.com, by calling 403-553-4404 or at the Box Office on Main Street.
The play contains mature themes and some frightening/intense scenes so parental guidance is advised.
