Meet Romeo and Juliet
Ahead of our sell out performance of Romeo and Juliet next week, we recently met with the actors playing the love-struck couple, Year 12’s Esmee and George.
Talking about his part as Romeo, George explained that he had his eyes on the prize from the very beginning, “Everyone auditions the same scene rather than specifically for a character in the play, but from the very first moment I heard we were performing Romeo and Juliet, I wanted the role. Romeo is a challenging character, emotional and confused at times, and I want the audience to like and perhaps relate to him rather than see him as a dumb-struck fool which he can appear to be at times.” He continued, “We’ve given the play a modern look on Shakespeare; we want people to see how the play can look and feel relevant and relatable.”
George recently found and confirmed his passion for Drama, the turning point being when he played the role of Vince Fontaine in Grease. Having only joined Woodbridge School in Year 9, he’s now taking Drama A level and hopes to go into law, understanding the advantages drama can give him in such a career. “Performing helps me with confidence and self-motivation, from learning the lines ahead of rehearsals so I’m completely prepared, to making sure I’m at every rehearsal fit and ready to perform, listen and learn – it’s a great experience that I know will help me beyond School.”
Meanwhile, Esmee is no stranger to a theatre production, having played the part of Patty Simcox most recently in Grease, one of the Von Trap children in the Year 7 musical The Sound Of Music and participating in a plethora of drama activities and clubs outside of School. Esmee hopes her Drama A level will take her to drama school, with aspirations of studying musical theatre and drama. Much like her fellow student and actor George, Esmee wanted the main part in the production from the get-go, and commented, “Juliet’s very different to any other part I’ve played in a School production – and there’s a different side to her character I’m really keen for the audience to see.” She continued, “Ordinarily Juliet can be portrayed very much as though she’s a victim in the story, but the way we are performing the play and the way I’m performing the character the audience will see that she’s very much more head strong and much less damsel in distress!”
Equally committed and enthusiastic about her performance Esmee shared her preparation techniques with us confirming, “The key to being able to manage nerves before any performance is to make sure you’re prepared and rehearsed. I try to keep calm, knowing how nervous I can get, put myself through a vocal warm up and practicing mindfulness ahead of the performance.”
Joined by a team of fellow students, working hard in rehearsals to ensure they’re ready to perform and entertain on the night, everyone taking part is looking forward to next week and continuing preparation and rehearsals.
With the performance taking place on Wednesday 23 and Thursday 24 November, and at the time of writing this the news breaking that tickets are sold out, the audience is in for a treat as Romeo and Juliet is performed in the round in The Seckford Theatre next week.
