3rd years travel to Romeo & Juliet

Romeo And Juliet Play, Third Year Outing

Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, is the play that is usually chosen for the Junior Certificate year to study for their English exam. Every year, the third years go to Rossmore Theater to watch the newest interpretation of the Romeo and Juliet play, and this year was no exception.

At around 12pm, the students departed the school to go to the play in Rossmore. The length of the play was around 2 hours in total with a 5 minute interval in the middle. When asked at the end of it what the students thought, most were quite disappointed. The general opinion was that the actor who played Romeo Montague, was not the best at portraying his role. Students thought he lacked emotion and chemistry with his lady love, Juliet Capulet. Another big complaint was that the actor who played Capulet did not know his lines and was reading from his script during the performance! Students also thought that the costumes were a little poor, and a few stated that Romeo, who was meant to look like a noble's kinsman, instead looked like a servant!

However, there were some positive comments made about the play too. When asked who their favourite character was, most replied saying "Mercutio". The actor who played Mercutio was said to be a terrific one, who really gave life to his character. A few other favourites were the jovial Nurse, and Benvolio Montague, the peacemaker. Some also commented saying they really liked the look of the set during Juliet's fake death. She was said to be wearing a long white dress, surrounded by flowers and the only light in the pitch black theater was focused on her as she lay there. It set the mood to a sombre one.

While most said that they did not enjoy the experience, there were still positive praises that were made about certain aspects of the play. And of course, because they are studying it in the classroom, it was certainly a wonderful thing to be able to see the play they read and study, come to life as it did in the play.