Romeo & Juliet

Year 7 and 8 have been studying Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, both in their English lessons and as their performance this term (which coincidentally falls on valentine’s day!) They have done fantastically well in getting their head around the Shakespearean language and digging deeper to find the dual meaning to so many of Shakespeare’s words.

In English lessons they have studied the conflicting themes of love and hate and how Shakespeare builds his characters through the use of prose or iambic pentameter. They have taken this knowledge into the theatre to add characterisation to their acting and we have seen some striking death scenes after Montague and Capulet brawls

All the children have gained a deeper understanding of the historical context of the time, researching and putting together costumes that would not be out of place in 16th century Verona. They also created all the props, including individual masks in the style of the masquerade ball where Romeo and Juliet first meet and swords painted in the insignia of the rival households.

We hope you enjoyed the play if you had a chance to see it. The children were very excited to show off all their hard work, first to the school on Wednesday and then to the parents on Friday.