“Parting is such sweet sorrow” – especially for a theater troupe hoping to stage a live performance of “Romeo & Juliet” in the middle of a pandemic …
“Parting is such sweet sorrow” – especially for a theater troupe hoping to stage a live performance of “Romeo & Juliet” in the middle of a pandemic that has closed schools and required social distancing. The solution, at least for high school students in the Boston suburb of Westwood? Make a movie version instead. This fall, the Westwood Stage cast has been recording themselves reciting lines from William Shakespeare’s timeless story of star-crossed lovers. The audio tracks will then be set to images from a graphic novel version of the play. Producing an animated film meant students didn’t have to worry about memorizing lines, costume changes or many of the other things that go into a live theatrical performance. But it was still an interesting challenge to focus almost completely on their voice work, said Lucy Vitali, a 16-year-old junior who plays Juliet. “This was definitely a good one to do Shakespeare for,” agreed Ryan Kaplan, a 15-year-old sophomore who plays the friar. “The focus is much more on the words and the terminology, which is what Shakespeare is all about.” For Cassidy Hall, a 17-year-old senior who plays the nurse, the chance to remain active in theater, even in a modest way, has been a welcome dose of normalcy.
