"Romeo and Juliet" Follow-Up

During the spring semester, the St. Ambrose students were hard at work on their three part web series Romeo and Juliet. By the end of the semester though, the project was still in the works so while many students returned back to their homes for the summer, others stayed on campus to work on this mainstage project.

For those who may not have seen any of the releases yet, this adaptation of the Shakespearean play consists of several modernizations. A couple of the adaptations include the female casting of Romeo and the inclusion of Spanish in the script. However, the most prominent change pertains to the performance aspect. Unlike any other show done before, this show was acted out with shadow puppets that danced along with pre-recorded audio. Dan Rairdin-Hale '04, Chair of the Theatre Department and director of this production, decided to use shadow puppets versus live actors as a safety precaution in the time of COVID-19.

"We made the decision early on in the year to adapt it," shared Rairdin-Hale. "We could still have our students working on the roles, they could unmask behind the glass of a sound booth, they could also puppeteer together. But things like intimate moments, fighting, and kissing, we didn't have to worry about COVID protocols because it was all done through shadow."

Over the summer, this project was released on Youtube as a three-part video series and it only seems fitting to celebrate the finalization of the project. With this being said, a watch party will be held in the Galvin Fine Arts Center on September 17.

"We are still trying to get the word out [about this production] and we are hoping to get a good audience," Rairdin-Hale remarked. "It was not what I had originally envisioned when I pitched the play to the rest of our department pre-pandemic, but I am thrilled with the finished product and I hope the students are excited to see their work on the big screen!"

You can stream all three episodes on YouTube. Hopefully you will enjoy this new medium of art as much as the students had creating it.