Touring company prepares to bring Romeo and Juliet to Springville March 16
The Utah Shakespeare Festival Touring Company will be performing Romeo and Juliet March 16, 7 p.m. at Springville High School.
This performance is free to the public. All ninthgrade students are studying Romeo and Juliet in their English classes this year.
First performed more than 400 years ago, Romeo and Juliet is one of William Shakespeare’s most recognized and beloved plays. Dealing with themes of familial conflict, friendship, and love, Romeo and Juliet also explore themes of hate, revenge, violence, and death. The latter themes are undeniable, permanent, and real in all of humankind and have been repeated throughout history.
Shakespeare places these themes front and center in Romeo and Juliet.
The touring director, Jason Spelbring, said, “I have always struggled to find where I fit in this play. Plays, by design, are written to allow us (the audience) in, to challenge us and invite us to explore other worlds. What would happen if we created a world where our audience members see themselves? Their type, their flaws, and their strengths. By setting our production in a classroom in 2020, we are forced to witness the effects of violent passion that Shakespeare intended to explore. Our company invites you to see the many sides of yourself in Romeo and Juliet, and I challenge you to hear this play for the first time through a modern-day lens.”