A Play On Words: Critique of Romeo y Julietta

Last week I saw an adaptation of Shakespeares timeless play Romeo and Juliet titled Romeo y Julietta. Combining the skeleton of the original play with modern and Hispanic elements (wildly reminiscent of West Side Story) the play had an enjoyable feel, even if slightly watered down. There were many interesting elements which I noted, one of them being the set. Taking a more minimalist and portable approach, the set is designed such that the actors all sit on boxes around the edge when they aren't center stage. They continued to participate by being the sound team. I had never seen anything like this before and felt that it added to the effect greatly. I also noted the lighting didn't play as major a roll as I have otherwise seen, but the minimalist approach was tasteful. The costuming was also minimalist, the actors wearing ponchos and aprons over street clothes. I found this to be an interesting nod to the modern times and culture of the actors, playing roles of an ancient classic. Also I felt, that while the attempt at combining region appropriate cultural aspects to the timeless classic was in theory refreshing, the hybrid dialogue felt cumbersome and stepped on the toes of the difficult to reconcile with early modern English, but the actors were versatile and acted with poise and humor, despite the difficulty of the task and made the play more than just bearable, but enjoyable. Overall, Romeo y Julietta was a fun and humorous take on one of my favorite plays, and I'm sure it will be enjoyed by both lovers of Shakespeare and Hispanic comedy alike.