Elizabethtown College students shed a whole new light on ‘Romeo and Juliet’
Shakespeare’s most infamous pair of star-crossed lovers take the Elizabethtownian stage with a fresh, never-before-seen twist.
This fall, in the Tempest Theatre, within the Baugher Student Center, a cast of talented Elizabethtown College students presents Shakespeare’s tragic play, “Romeo and Juliet.” While most are familiar with the tragic tale of young Romeo, who is ripped apart from his forbidden love, Juliet, because of their family’s longstanding feud, the Elizabethtown College Theatre and Dance department have untraditionally cast a group of students for their quality of acting – not for their gender or their race.
This unique rendition of “Romeo and Juliet” includes a cast of 17 college performers, who have been selected by Director of Theater and Dance and Associative Professor of Theater, Michael Swanson.
“Artistically, this choice allows greater creativity for actors,” Swanson said. “And we hope it will provoke some out-of-the-box thinking amongst our audiences about the nature of personality and gender.”
Grace Gibson, who is a fourth-year English Literature major at Elizabethtown College, plays the role of Romeo Montague.
“I’m approaching him, in the same way, I would approach a female role,” Gibson said. “I think I can bring something new to Romeo, not because I’m a woman, but because I’m me – approaching Romeo from my specific set of skills and experiences.”
Specific dates and showtimes for this production include:
- Oct. 31 at 8 p.m.
- Nov. 1-2 at 8 p.m.
- Nov. 7-8 at 8 p.m.
- Nov. 10 at 2 p.m.
Tickets are $7 and can be reserved by contacting boxoffice@etown.edu, with the play’s title and the date of the show.
In addition, there will also be a box office window, located between the Elizabethtown College Bookstore and the Bird Cage in the Baugher Student Center, where students and the public can begin purchasing tickets a week before the show opens on Thursday, Oct. 31 at 8 p.m.