Shawano Community High School is dusting off a classic for its fall drama production, which opens Thursday.
Director Mark Otte, who teaches English and theater at SCHS, is turning back to the bard, also known as William Shakespeare, as his students prepare to present the tragedy “Romeo and Juliet.”
“I like doing Shakespeare about every three years,” Otte said. “I read through about five Shakespeare plays, and with the cast we have, this was the best fit. The name recognition was also a draw.”
Aside from the language used, the theme of young love is similar to what teens face today. The show focuses on two people from opposite positions in society who fall in love, despite the feud between both families. But their desire to live happily ever after is not meant to be.
“There’s younger characters in this show, which is good, because I have a lot of young people in my cast,” Otte said. “I try to emphasize that this show takes place over the course of three days, so it’s certainly a love story, but it’s also about the perils of youth and the long view of life.”
Among the younger actors is freshman Ryan Steffen, who plays Romeo. Steffen noted that playing a major role is more work than he is used to, and he feels a little bit of pressure.
Steffen sees some of the connections between the play and what teens deal with today, though he pointed out there is “probably not as much murder.”
Meghan Tetting, who plays Juliet, can also see the parallels between then and now, with young men and women trying to understand what love is.
“Young people tend to get involved a little too early, and that’s pretty much what Shakespeare tries to say in the play,” Tetting said. “It does kind of relate back to nowadays.”
Tetting said she was a little shocked to play one of the title roles, but she is enjoying looking into the layers of her character. Her biggest challenge comes from dealing with “the very big monologues,” she said.
This show is a departure from other productions in recent years in that there are extensive fight scenes. The five-act version of the play has been trimmed to fit two hours, but several key battles remain, including the brawl on the streets of Verona.
To prepare the actors for their fight scenes, Otte brought in a professional fight choreographer from Milwaukee for two days during the summer and one day last month to show them how to fight without hurting each other. The actors also take part in a fight call at the start of every rehearsal to practice every sword battle.
“I’ve had some stage violence in some of my shows, but it’s been a long time since it has been to this level,” Otte said. “The first day was spent entirely on safety — how to take a fall, how to throw a punch, how to handle a weapon on stage.”
It is because of the violence, along with some crude jokes in the show and a theme of suicide, that the school is recommending only patrons age 14 and over come to the show.
The other challenge for the actors is understanding the words. The language in Shakespeare’s era is miles away from how most people speak today.
“Some people think that if Shakespeare were alive today, he’d be a Quentin Tarantino,” Otte said. “He has a sense of humor, if you know what to look for. Getting (the students) to understand the language has been time-consuming.”
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