The Sound of Tension or El Sonido de la Tensión

After attending Romeo y Julieta on February 8th I needed some time to chew on the masterpiece.. What stuck out to me and how I felt about it have been a mud puddle of different ideas. The language barrier was an interesting addition that was fun to watch and the cast did a magnificent job pulling it off. The writing of Shakespeare can be difficult to understand without two differing languages yet due to the superb acting of the cast even the Spanish were easy to understand with skills of body language and voice inflection within the context of the play. But there was something they did that really fascinated me. The use of sounds!
With a cast of only 8 members we quickly realized that the low production set was established and going back to Shakespearean times, all of the props and costumes were on stage with them. Yet, something that amazed me was the majority of background musical effects were produced by the cast. As the characters involved in the scene were onstage such as the one pictured above, the remaining cast members wouldn't leave the stage or sit aimlessly, but rather they became the  tension coming from the beating of the drums or the love coming from stringed instruments.
In a play adaptation regarding a lack of communication there was at least one element that was not foreign to a multi-cultural audience and cast, sound. The tension was built up not just by the acting of the characters but the combined efforts of remaining cast members "off stage." The acting was impressive, but what might have been more impressive was the effect the "off stage" members had upon the overall tone of the play, making it not only intense but in many ways come to life! I will be forever impressed at the effort and care that they put into this small production of a dramatic classic!
Bravo BYU Young Company!

¡Bien Trabajo Romeo y Julieta!

Yes, I know, I verbally and quite bluntly expressed my dislike for Romeo and Juliet, but! I enjoy performances so I didn't go into it with a negative mindset. It was phenomenal, by the way before I get into the analysis. I spoke with one of the actors before the show began and he said that having read all of Shakespeare's works he felt similar to how I did in regards to the play but that he strongly loves this production, and I would have to agree.

One thing that surprised me going in was how small the cast was, there were only 8 actors, and they stayed on stage the entire time. They had very little props and they were all directed and moved by those on stage. This makes sense since this is meant to be performed at schools where the venue may not accommodate a lot of set material. With all of the actors never leaving the stage the use of positioning was very pinpoint. The center of the stage was where all of the real time action happened, and the right and left sides was "offstage" where actors with more than one role would change, where they had props, and instruments. Given that offstage was visible to the audience they used this to their advantage to set the tone, setting, and atmosphere. Those offstage would portray body language and facial expressions to express what was going on "onstage" and make sound effects and drum on the stools and floor. This intimacy and minimal set made the play not only more personal but alive, it wasn't a reflection of real life as much as it was a performance, a work of art. The actors did all their own work, moving the set, making the music, guiding the transitions. Given their small set and limited cast they addressed the audience and included us in the story.

I would like to speak briefly (because I only have so many words) on the decision to include the audience and why I think they chose to adapt it the way they did. This play was, in one word, 'entertaining' it is half comedy, half tragedy. This is because it has children as the intended audience, the Spanish adaptation, the clash of culture, the humor, the suspense. At the beginning the characters introduce themselves and their roles and relations to others in the play as though you were reading the character list at the beginning. A lot of kids seeing this won't know a lot about the story going in. This performance does an excellent job at knowing their audience.

Romeo, Romeo, where fort art thou, Romeo

"Two households both alike in dignity” the iconic words to one of the best-known plays which have swept over the world. Last night I attended the play Romeo Y Julietta, which was a bilingual adaption on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. As a die-hard romantic and possessing an affinity for Shakespeare, this was right up my alley. I’m happy to say I was immensely impressed. The mixed two things that only a few understand, Shakespeare and Spanish-  and made it so children could comprehend the story. I argue that how they portrayed Romeo and Juliet made more sense, because at least when they died it was because a language barrier was between them. I have always loved the scheme of the star-crossed lovers. Everyone in this show as on their game and ready to perform. One instance that I thought was particularly great was when Mercutio and Benvolio were hassling Romeo about going to the party, and how he falls in love so quickly that no one can keep up with him. Two girls played his friends, and yet they pulled it off so well, that no one would have known the difference. They all also added their own sound effects and noises, which added another element to the play. While I am a traditionalist and a purist in most situations, it was refreshing to see something that usually would have never piqued my interest. I was impressed by how easy it was to understand even if my Spanish only leads to "Hola" and "Como Estas". There was something warm and genuine about all the cast members and how they interacted with the guests. All in all, it was an honor being amongst all the talent in the room. Mercutio, Tybalt, Benvolio, the nurse, and of course Romeo and Julietta. There is no one I could praise more than the other and it made strides for both the artistic and theatre community. Well done, BYU Young Theatre.