Romeo And Juliet Dance Scene Analysis

Romeo and Juliet: a tale as old as time, a song as old as rhyme. These star crossed lovers’ tragedy has become a cultural institution and spanned countless adaptations. Because of this, most audiences carry a multitude of conceptions about the play and these ideas affect their perspective of the show. This creates a problem for directors. How do you make a show that works with the audience’s ideas. The School of Dramatic Arts’ production of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare effectively created an engaging and compelling show. In particular, the school utilized the elements of design to make a cohesive production. The costumes for Romeo and Juliet, including the hair and makeup, not only evoked the story but the style in which the director Kelly Ward decided to set the show. Ward set the show in 15th century Italy and the costumes and hair reflected this setting. Costumes are an important tool to guide the audience’s …show more content…
In the beginning of the show, the lighting was warm and pink which created a comfortable, welcoming environment in juxtaposition to the later tragic elements of the show. Often, the scrim was lit blue lighting to look like the sky. This welcomed the audiences into the world of the show. Lighting was a key feature of the party scene where Romeo and Juliet meet. The lighting brightened and darkened and moved to shift focus. For example, when Tybalt spoke the lighting darkened ever so slightly. As with the sound design, the lighting design underscored specific moments. There was an ethereal blue light on Juliet’s corpse, for example. Additionally, there was a blood like red lighting when Friar Laurence discovers Romeo and Juliet’s dead bodies. The lighting designer very effectively used lighting to reflect the emotional moods of the scenes, utilizing color psychology just as the costume designer