W: Love. Hate. Death. These things are at the
heart of Shakespeare’s famous tragedy, Romeo
and Juliet. The St. Stephens High School drama
club performed this play last weekend.
Romeo and Juliet is the story of two families,
the Capulets and the Montagues, who are bitter
enemies. Tragedy follows when the son of one
falls in love with the daughter of the other. The
play is set in Verona, Italy, in the late 16th century.
Allison Bourne played Juliet, Capulet’s
beautiful young daughter. She showed the mixed
emotions Juliet felt after secretly marrying the
son of her family’s most hated enemy. At times,
she was happy, and at times, she was afraid.
David Taylor played Romeo, Montague’s
son. He put on a good performance despite
having a head cold. His lines were said with
great feeling in a clear voice.
Eric Parker was the perfect Tybalt: dark and
angry. Maggie Jones played the nurse. She acted
the part of a gossipy old woman very well. She
made everyone in the audience laugh at her
jokes and her comic character.
The whole cast showed enthusiasm in every
scene. The actors knew the meaning of their
lines. They used body language to show this
meaning well. The stage lights were sometimes
too bright or too dim. But the sword fights looked
very real, and the costumes were wonderful.
Overall, St. Stephens’ production of Romeo
and Juliet was a great night of high school theater.