Romeo & Juliet at the Saigon Opera House

“A plague on both your houses” – Grades 8, 9 and 10 took to the bus to visit Saigon’s grand old Opera House to see a production of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”. The play is being studied by Grade 9 at the moment, and Grade 10 studied it last year, so the play is familiar to most of the students. Grade 8 will have the joyful Shakespeare experience next year if all goes well.

The play was brought to life by only five actors who had (naturally) to play all the roles. Expert trimming of the script down to bare minimums and creative staging made for a clear, at times gripping performance. It was unanimously decided by the whole group that the actress portraying the nurse was the best player over all. There was some poignant madrigal singing which rounded off the play and allowed for some highly unique and creative staging.

It was an experience well worth watching and will give students some food for thought as they have been given the task or reviewing the play for themselves.