I saw the play, Romeo and Juliet, at [enter location] here on [enter date here]. Romeo and Juliet is indeed a classic with classic figures, however, this production casted women in roles that would’ve typically been played by men which I liked. Therefore, the show was very lively and fluid that I would definitely recommend the production to others because it’s a new take on an old classic.

The unique perspective offered through gender-fluid casting does offer a different set of lens that is refreshing. Juliet took part in a lot of of spirited movement across the stage while Romeo took to not as lively bodily movement but more vocal projection than Juliet. As Romeo is portrayed in this play as a young “hothead” his movements resembled that of Rosalind, a hero in the play. When Karen Fischwick, Juliet, showcases her youthful anger by hitting the pillows on her bed while also taking the drugs from the dealer, the entire audience laughed as her movements really matched that of a bratty, young child.

Although gender fluidity did place a new pair of eyes for the audience, this modern take does nothing to bring up the issues of how destructive male violence can be for everyone, especially those in relationships. This is because this play had one of woman cast as a character carrying a knife, which typically would’ve been done by a male cast member. Since Romeo, played by Bally Gill, is typified as a hothead and Juliet is full of spirit, they made for an entertain couple that were really engaging to the audience in a modern yet classic way. The strength of the anger that Beth Cordingly played as Escalus, the prince, definitely gave light to the fact that women could portray strong anger like a man would. When Beth get the men of the city in trouble for their “tribal warfare,” the entire audience could feel as if Escalus was really, really mad.

The designers of Romeo and Juliet included a lot of industrial, dark colors to showcase the different worlds in the play. This dark world represents the metallic world with graffiti on the walls. On the other hand, the other world is that of a society that was once royal and beautiful, which is why the colors used are royal purple for leather for the seats and other props as well as the clothing. The ceiling was rusted metal and the architecture was framed so that there would be a good space between the actors and audience.

Overall, the execution of the production was good because the lighting changes were minimal allowing the audience to pay attention better since there wasn’t too much unnecessary movement. Also, because of the way the architecture of the stage was set up, the sound quality was up to par and not too loud like sometimes it is. While the pace seemed to match the liveliness of the characters, a slower pace would have been much appreciated especially in scenes of high importance. Slowing down the pace would have placed higher emphasis on some scenes making the quality of the production even better.

Thus, the production was indeed engaging and shed a new perspective on gender-fluid casting and its outcomes. While some of the characters did well as women playing men, some women’s voice weren’t projected very well as men and others didn’t possess the necessary anger a man would have. Still, those who did play this well did so beautifully and showed that perhaps gender-fluid casting can work with practice. Lastly, the design set was so intricate and matched the royal versus industrial worlds portrayed in the play.