Tag Archives: romeo and juliet

The Oakville Middle School Journal: Arts Review

8 Apr

The drama department will be performing their new play, Romeo and Juliet, this weekend for the entire town. This will be their first play of the school year.

Being a self-appointed connoisseur of middle school theater, I was very eager to see the advance press screening of this show. I even got to leave homeroom fifteen minutes early to go see it. Unfortunately, there was a four-alarm fire on the other side of town, meaning all newspapers, besides the Journal, were unable to attend the press screening.

The scenery, hand-painted by Ms. Rosnan and her after-school art club, looked really nice, but they weren’t quite dry and added an unusual runny quality to the play. The orchestra will be playing the score live this weekend, but their services were unavailable at the early showing, so the music was played on cassette.

Brad Wellesly and Sarah Green had the lead roles, and demonstrated themselves as master thespians. Their love story blossomed wonderfully during the twelve minute preview, and their emotion was remarkably realistic. I wish to congratulate whoever did the make-up for concealing Brad’s acne. It was almost unnoticeable. The costumes were spectacular to say the least, and the cast looked authentic to the period.

Due to an ever-tightening budget for the visual arts department at Oakville, parents of students volunteered to help out planning and producing Romeo and Juliet, as usual.  I got an exclusive chat with Mr. Spirelli, seventh grader Jake’s dad, who directed the play.

“We wanted to capture the majesty of the time period that is conveyed in the original production. Having spent three weeks as a dancer in an off-Broadway version of Fiddler, I tried my hardest to bring my experience and intimate knowledge of the theater to this play,” he said to me back stage.

For all those interested in seeing this production, it will be showing on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. both days. Refreshments will be available for purchase, and I personally recommend the Twizzlers or Mrs. Green’s cupcakes.

– Melvin Roberts

Arts Review

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Shakespeare: A Sixteenth Century Bob Saget

26 Mar

William Shakespeare is the most prolific playwright of all time. Unfortunately, his beautiful prose and charming stories often overshadowed his signature raunch. Let’s take a peek at some of the Bard’s best and bawdiest humor:

 

CHIRON: Thou has undone our mother.

AARON: Villain, I have done thy mother.

– Titus Andronicus
 
 

 BRABANTIO: What profane wretch art thou?

IAGO: I am one, sir, that comes to tell you your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs.

-Othello
 
 

NURSE: ‘Yea,’ quoth he, ‘dost thou fall upon thy face? Thou wilt fall backward when thou hast more wit;

-Romeo and Juliet
 

SAMPSON: A dog of that house shall move me to stand: I will 
take the wall of any man or maid of Montague’s.

GREGORY: That shows thee a weak slave; for the weakest goes 
to the wall.

SAMPSON: True; and therefore women, being the weaker vessels,
are ever thrust to the wall: therefore I will push
 Montague’s men from the wall, and thrust his maids 
to the wall.

GREGORY:
The quarrel is between our masters and us their men.

SAMPSON: ‘Tis all one, I will show myself a tyrant: when I
 have fought with the men, I will be cruel with the
 maids, and cut off their heads.

GREGORY: The heads of the maids?

SAMPSON 
Ay, the heads of the maids, or their maidenheads; 
take it in what sense thou wilt.

GREGORY: They must take it in sense that feel it.

SAMPSON: 
Me they shall feel while I am able to stand: and
’tis known I am a pretty piece of flesh.

GREGORY: ‘Tis well thou art not fish; if thou hadst, thou
 hadst been poor John. Draw thy tool! here comes
 two of the house of the Montagues.

– Romeo and Juliet


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