By Josey Morris
On the popular date of Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day, the freshmen English classes took a trip to the Booth Tarkington Civic Theater in Carmel to watch Romeo and Juliet live.
The trip took place a few days after the freshmen finished reading this play. Romeo and Juliet is the first play that students in Indiana read in high school.
Mrs. Megan Byard, English teacher, said most of her students were excited and were seeing a play for the first time.
This play isn’t just romance.
“Shakespeare wrote the play with the intention that anyone could walk in the theater, watch the show, and find something to like,” Byard said. “If you like love and romance, it’s there. If you’re more into action scenes and blood and gore, this play’s got it. If humor and jokes are more your speed, it’s got that, too.”
Freshman Chloe Oliver said she thought how someone reacts to the play might come down to personal experience. She said, “If you’ve never been in a ‘star-crossed’ type of relationship it would feel different to you.”
Chloe said the opinions on this play were mixed. She said it was a split in the middle. She believes there were a lot of people who enjoyed it, and others who thought it could be better.
Freshman Kinley Meekin went into this trip expecting this play to be boring. However, her opinion changed after the play. She said, “It is definitely a highlight of this year.”
Byard said that for hundreds of years students have studied, watched and performed Romeo and Juliet.
“The characters are relatable, the themes are ones we can still identify with in modern times, and the language is beautiful–even when someone is being insulted!” she said.
It is beneficial for students to understand that the situations they experience today are similar to what people from centuries ago also experienced.
The theater where this play took place seated fewer than 500 people. Delta took 177 freshmen, so they were nearly half of the audience.
With much of the audience freshmen, Chloe said that everyone behaved themselves well. She also thinks that the school should continue to have this trip because the students were able to view this as an educational experience.
Amanda Craw, English teacher, said this year’s freshman class was the best behaved one she’s taken in years.
She said their maturity and flexibility level with bus scheduling issues showed her and Byard that the freshmen deserve another field trip.
According to Craw most of the students were paying attention and watching the play with interest. She said, “The bus ride home was full of chatter about favorite characters, artistic expression in lighting, and the simplistic stage and props.”
Since the play is written in Shakespearean English it is usually hard for students to interpret the story.
Although, Craw said being able to read it, discuss it, and then watch it be performed is easier to understand and it assists Shakespearean English.
“It allows language from over 400 years ago in another country across the ocean to come to life right in front of you,” Craw said. “It makes it timeless.”
