Shakespeare Influence On Romeo And Juliet
On November 3rd, I saw the Herndon Middle School Production What’s in a Name. I saw the play after school and enjoyed many aspects of the production itself. My favorite recurring theme, however, was the Shakespearean influence throughout. The first influence can be seen in the title. What’s in a name reminded me of the Balcony scene in Shakespeare’s famous work Romeo and Juliet. In that scene, Juliet says
“What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet”.
The reason she says this because she doesn’t care about the fact that Romeo comes from the Montague lineage. This title played well into the production, because it had a theme of family heritage and ancestry. Another Shakespeare-based element I noticed was that, after each scene, there was a prologue. The prologues were said by a chorus. Shakespeare had a prologue in the beginning of plays and between scenes, such as the prologues in Romeo and Juliet, and King Henry VIII . The quote “If it can be written or thought, it can be …show more content…
The earthy colors of the backdrop and minimal costumes helped me enjoy the show, as I felt like it was a scene unfolding in front of me, not a practiced, scripted show. I really understood what the quote “One must suspend their disbelief to rise above reality” meant, because if I put aside the fact that the people on stage are actors, I lived vicariously through the actors and felt like I was actually inside the scene.
Some of the more “technical” things I noticed about the acting is how the actors cheated out to the audience instead of facing away and blocking the audience’s view. They also used the stage space well, as they didn’t all just group together in center stage but moved around a lot. There were no asides, so no one broke the fourth wall.
All in all What’s in a name was an amazing production, from the Shakespeare references, to the acting. I enjoyed it, and if given the chance, I would definitely see it
“What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet”.
The reason she says this because she doesn’t care about the fact that Romeo comes from the Montague lineage. This title played well into the production, because it had a theme of family heritage and ancestry. Another Shakespeare-based element I noticed was that, after each scene, there was a prologue. The prologues were said by a chorus. Shakespeare had a prologue in the beginning of plays and between scenes, such as the prologues in Romeo and Juliet, and King Henry VIII . The quote “If it can be written or thought, it can be …show more content…
The earthy colors of the backdrop and minimal costumes helped me enjoy the show, as I felt like it was a scene unfolding in front of me, not a practiced, scripted show. I really understood what the quote “One must suspend their disbelief to rise above reality” meant, because if I put aside the fact that the people on stage are actors, I lived vicariously through the actors and felt like I was actually inside the scene.
Some of the more “technical” things I noticed about the acting is how the actors cheated out to the audience instead of facing away and blocking the audience’s view. They also used the stage space well, as they didn’t all just group together in center stage but moved around a lot. There were no asides, so no one broke the fourth wall.
All in all What’s in a name was an amazing production, from the Shakespeare references, to the acting. I enjoyed it, and if given the chance, I would definitely see it