Response to Romeo and Juliet

Romeo meets Juliet for the first time at a costumed party at the Capulet’s house. Through the glass of the aquarium, he sees her face and falls in love immediately. A romantic song is played in the background. The nurse gets to Juliet and brings her to Paris. The character of Paris makes you think of a fool, who is too full of himself. The character of Juliet is casted really well. The girl looks sweet and innocent in her angel costume. After the dance of Paris and Juliet, the story becomes a bit hasty. Because of this, the story also becomes less romantic. It’s original story is placed in a modern setting, which I think is not a right combination.

In the performance we’ve seen, Romeo was casted more as a tough guy. He was not  a sweet, romantic boy like the Romeo from the book. However, this was not annoying at all. He did show a bit of arrogance.

I think that Juliet was very different than the original Juliet. The Juliet from Shakespeare’s “Romeo & Juliet” is kind, friendly, honest and innocent. The woman, who played Juliet in the Illyria performance was shouting (because there were no microphones used) but this made Juliet not sweet-hearted at all. Especially in the balcony scene, she looked angry instead of in love.

There were almost no props used in the performance. There was a “death bed” placed behind the curtain and there was some kind of “balcony”. The actors changed clothes, when they changed characters. This made the difference between characters clear for the audience. The acting was fine. Paris was casted as a bit of a loser and the father of Juliet was a very dominant man. The nurse was casted very good. She was obviously the funny character of the story.