Acting out Romeo and Juliet 9/10/08 @8:40pm

Today's class was a fun and entertaining experience. I loved how we as a class were able to choose scenes from one of Shakespeare's great works, Romeo and Juliet, and actually act them out in front of a live audience. As individual groups, blocking, casting roles, practicing, and performing the specific scenes was a lot more stressful than one would imagine. Because my group consisted of six different people, it was hard to try and find one scene that would allow six parts. To conquer this dilemma, my group combines scenes 1 and 2 of Act 4. Ironically, many people seemed to have the same difficulties and ended up choosing the same scenes. Some classmates seemed to stress over the similar scene choices, however, I found it to be more helpful and entertaining than if everyone chose different scenes. We as a class were able to see how one scene can be portrayed / understood differently simply by watching the actors individual acting choices on stage. I as Juliet played the 12-year-old as a feisty girl looking for a way out, others chose to play her as more of a damsel in distress, looking for assistance. This exercise was a great preview into the unique acting choices that will be professed in our future productions of Shakespeare at his best!