I had an opportunity this week to see a performance of Romeo and Juliet in English put on by the by <em>The Drama Buffs Club</em> at Sofia's School of Mathematics. It was an absolute treat--albeit an unexpected treat. What made the performance especially noteworthy is that the students were putting on the event in order to raise enough funds to buy a new piano for the school.

At only 1 leva a ticket, I hope that they raised enough money for the piano because they certainly deserve it.  I gave a extra when I purchased my ticket by refusing any change but in doing so I also revealed that I was a native English speaker.  As a result the teacher-director who was selling me my ticket demanded (in a very nice way) that I move to sit in the front row where I would be better able to hear and see the production.

I was hesitant to do so because there's a part of me that is shy about receiving special treatment simply because I am a native English speaker.  But I have to say that sitting right up in front was really exciting and a lot of fun.  Towards the end of the play when fighting erupts once again between the Capulets and Montagues I ended up with a sword landing at my feet and that was nothing if not exciting!!

The funny thing is that originally when I agreed to attend the play with one of the teachers from the First English Language High School, I wasn't sure what to expect.  The play is over-done in the States and has the reputation of being the arch-typical high school drama club play.  I mean this is for good reason, who doesn't love two angst riddled and love lorn teenagers and who can't related to the feeling of being torn apart by the effects of lust and love? This said, I wasn't sure whether the production would be enjoyable, painful or laughable.<!--more-->And I have to report, it was a little bit of all of those things.  The students in the production put on the show with a lot of heart.  As non-native speakers, they tackled some of Shakespeare's especially hard lines with gusto.  Sure some lines came across better than others but I understood every single thing they said (okay, it may have helped that I've studied and seen this play a number of times but after this thought quickly flitted though my mind, I couldn't help but imagine myself trying to memorize Shakespeare's lines if English wasn't my native language and how difficult that must be). Their acting was alternately over the top or way to minimal but god they were having a good time.

By far the thing that stands out to me is how much fun the audience was having watching the performance.  Mostly there were students in attendance.  I recognized at least two classes from the First English Language school and in looking around the room I would guess that most of the students were between 15 and 17 years old.  And they were having a great time.

Every time the curtain closed for a scene change the audience clapped widely.  They didn't always laugh at Shakespeare's jokes (his word play and witty vocabulary may have been a little advanced for them) but they loved (and clapped and laughed at) anything that had to do with fighting and flirting!  I guess they are an audience after Shakespeare's own heart after all.

The climax of the play is of course the scene when Romeo finds Juliet in the Capulet tomb.  You know the drill: he assumes, wrongly, that she is dead.  If he'd been slightly less impulsive and not in such a rush to drink the poison and join Juliet in death then he would have been around to see her wake up from her drug induced slumber.  But Romeo being Romeo, he jumps the gun, drinks the poison, and Juliet awakens to find him dead. Being the smart girl that she is, she realizes what Romeo has done.

She finds the bottle of poison empty and the selfish guy that Romeo is he hasn't even left a drop of poison on his lips for Miss Juliet. Unable to live without her love (Really?! The 21st century commentator that I am says: look around Juliet--Paris is dead you don't have to marry him, you're free from this manic Romeo and you're young--get back out there and live your life!!), she uses a dagger to kill herself.

Only this time, in this performance, when Juliet stabs herself the room explodes in applause. I can honestly say that I've never seen a staging of Romeo and Juliet before where this happens.  Usually this is a somber moment where the audience is able to reflect on just how star-crossed these two young lovers were.  However, this was not the case in Sofia yesterday.

Why? I am not sure. Shakespeare tells us how to interpret this story in the final lines of the play when he writes "And never was a story of more woe/ Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."  But the student's reaction seems to suggest an alternate interpretation--that there is something to be celebrated in Juliet's death.  I couldn't help but wonder, are they celebrating her agency, her refusal to follow her parent's orders, her unwillingness to adhere to the cultural norms of the day, or were they simply glad that the play was about to end? I don't know.  And frankly, I am not sure if they know.

Shakespeare has a way of doing that.  He complicates the every day--he forces us to take a look at who we are and what motivates us.  He gives us a slant look into our own lives.  But more than this, a part of me is amazed that this playwright got human nature down on paper so right that hundreds of years later and cultures apart, we are still drawn to the stories that he told.  So much so that the drama club at Sofia's School of Mathematics took on this play to stage and preform.  And to these students all I can say is: Bravo and a job well done.  Oh and I hope that you raised enough money for your new piano!