The first week of rehearsals is always super exciting because of its entire novelty: the faces, the space, the script.
The first activity for everyone thus is learning names and faces; many an ‘aha’ moment is to follow among cast & crew (“So THIS is the one who got THAT role…”) and then one turns to the sacred text. During the first read-through, we stop after each scene to clarify what happens – follow the story. And for Romeo & Juliet, it’s a heck of a story! Ever realized that this play could have well ended up as a comedy? If only the Capulets hadn’t run into the Montagues on Monday, and Romeo not gone into banishment (and utter isolation as to what really happens in Verona in the meantime) on Tuesday, and Juliet’s father not pressured for a hasty marriage with Paris (also on Tuesday), and if only Friar John had been admitted to Mantua (Wednesday), and Juliet woken up 10 seconds earlier from her so-called sleep (Wednesday)… Alack. Imagine!
If only.
Well, it’s a tragedy, what can I say, and we’ll bring you some fine deaths by sword & blade, knife and poison. But before, we need to make sure that Verona’s citizens know whom to side with: the Capulets or the Montagues? Whom will you side with?
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