Rose, Year 10, tells us about a recent theatre trip to see Romeo and Juliet:
‘On Wednesday 30th January, a group of Year 9s, 10s, 11s and 12s went on a trip after school to go and see Romeo and Juliet (being performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company) with the English and Drama Departments. There were lots of other schools that attended because of the English and Drama GCSEs as well.
The Royal Shakespeare Company made the play much more diverse with their choice of characters as there were actors there of all different ethnicities instead of an all-white cast. Also, the RSC swapped what gender was supposed to be played by the actors. Obviously Romeo was still a man and Juliet was still a woman but, for example, they changed the Prince’s actor from a man to a woman – this could be to even out the power distribution throughout the play and also to give it a modern twist.
By seeing the play performed live, it gave everyone the opportunity to pick up on which parts Shakespeare intended to be humorous and really emphasised the more serious parts of the play, like when Juliet wakes up to find Romeo lying dead beside her.
Overall, this was a very valuable trip for everyone because it gave us a way to remember a version of the play that we can also reference in our exams and it was also an amazing experience!
Thank you to Mrs Richardson, Miss Breeze and Miss Lyons for taking us there!’
