Language & Literature

Year 8: Romeo and Juliet

by June McKenzie, teacher of Language & Literature

The Year 8s have recently been exploring the nature of theatre. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet  has been our focus for studying the themes of feuds, revenge, love and tragedy.

On Tuesday 28 August we attended a performance of Romeo and Juliet  by the Bell Shakespeare Company at the Playhouse Theatre. Janine Watson’s adaption of this play provided an exciting interpretation for students to see how actors played their roles and the creative team who staged this work.

Front row seats certainly took the action right up to our students. Having read and studied Act One, in class, they were able to identify the characters and readily understand Shakespeare’s language. This performance will provoke interesting discussion as we unpack the different elements. Before the show, students had chosen a character “to stalk” and their follow-up work will involve creating a profile of this character.