Year 11 students explore the art of staging Romeo and Juliet

During the workshop, students gained a deeper understanding of the requirements for staging the play. Emily and Jonathan discussed both the technical and creative elements, including the use of haze, actor placement, interpretative choices and the administrative work behind the scenes.

They also explored the pacing of Shakespeare’s language and how it influences an actor’s performance. Students revisited concepts such as iambic pentameter, learning how stressed and unstressed syllables create a heartbeat like rhythm that shapes an actor’s cadence, tone and gestures.

For a more lighthearted demonstration, the actors compared Shakespeare’s rhythm to a horse’s canter, acting it out to illustrate the beat. Although hesitant at first, students soon joined in, moving in time with the rhythm and reciting the opening chorus of Romeo and Juliet. They also practised other well-known lines from Shakespeare’s plays.