This set was created by students in the theatre program to be used for the play. The actors were able to utilize the set in many ways to demonstrate different settings. For example, one section of the set was Juliet’s bedroom, while another portion was used as the balcony.
Choosing Their Own Adventure
The production ‘Romeo and Juliet: Choose Your Own Ending’ created different and new experiences for the theater program.
The fall play “Romeo and Juliet: Choose Your Own Ending” created new experiences and challenges for the theater program. Senior Marcella Rivera, who performed as Rosaline, said that it was a different production from others that the program has put on in the past.
“It’s something we haven’t, to my knowledge, ever done before,” Rivera said.
The plot of the production was similar to that of the original story of Romeo and Juliet, but there was a twist. Audiences were able to make choices about the plot of the play by voting with glow sticks.
“The audience picks what it’s about,” stage manager and sophomore Gigi Stefani said. “If you pick Juliet, there are four different endings; if you pick Rosaline, there are four alternate endings.
Due to the eight different endings, the theater program had to prepare in slightly different ways. According to Rivera, the program had a unique rehearsal schedule. In the past, the program split the play up into acts and rehearse them individually. For this production, they had to create a different approach.
“We pick and choose what scenes to rehearse each day,” Rivera said. “[The play] was kind of broken down into little sub-scenes.”
The new techniques and experiences lead to challenges that the program had to cope with. Sophomore Chloe Kwasiborski, who was a member of the ensemble, said that the main challenges were associated with the costumes and memorization.
“There’s a lot of line memorization for the leads that are in it,” Kwasiborski said. “Also, we made our own costumes, so learning how to put costumes together and cutting and pinning materials [was challenging].”
Despite new challenges, Stefani said that the program grew from them and that the cast became more connected.
“We’re like a family,” Stefani said. “None of us are scared to be out of our comfort zone.”
The production of “Romeo and Juliet: Choose Your Own Ending” created challenges; however, it also created new techniques for the theater program and it was a beneficial learning experience.