Play review: Thumbs up for 'Romeo'
BY JEREMY DELAY Guest critic

Photo/Suzanne Loudamy Back stage, adjustments continue as Breanna Lowder checks a hem on Cody Lindley's costume. The Montagues (Whitehouse High actors) and the Capulets (Jacksonville High actors) continue their feud on the stage of Whitehouse High's auditorium tonight and Saturday evening at 7 p.m. Don't miss this unique opportunity to see two schools join together to present Shakespeare's classic Romeo and Juliet. Adult tickets are $5 and students tickets are $3.

When first entering the auditorium I had no idea two different schools comprised the cast. Having two rival schools play the roles of feuding families was a fantastic concept. Both schools deserve a standing ovation for all the effort and hard work to present William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Perhaps not on par with the Globe Theater, but for any Shakespeare fan it is a must see.

Romeo and Juliet, performed by the students of Whitehouse High School and Jacksonville High School, is a two thumbs up. As soon as the curtains open the audience is presented with an immaculate stage, which was broken up in several moving parts, enabling the directors and actors multiple set designs and allowing for optimal usage of their given space. Set changes were quietly arranged while the audience listened to music, anxiously awaiting the actors to retake the stage.

Often an overlooked aspect of plays, lighting was often used to accentuate different scenes to impress the mood on the audience. Costumes for both schools were true to the time era which, much to the agony of the male actors, meant tights. Each actor on stage maintained their character throughout the entirety of the play which can be difficult in the midst of adlibs and sometimes even costume malfunctions.

The play opens with a brawl between the feuding families, the Montagues, played by the WHS students, and the Capulets, played by the students of JHS. The audience was on the edge of their seats during the many choreographed sword fights; you could hear gasps and roaring applause.

At the Capulet party where almost all of Verona is invited, except of course the Montagues, we are introduced to Juliet. Our lovers meet for the first time.

Sadly for Juliet, she has unknowingly fallen in love with her enemy. After the intermission we find our star-crossed lovers on the brink of despair; Juliet is being promised to another suitor and Romeo is banished from Verona.

Juliet is given a potion which is to leave her in a death-like state, and Romeo is told of her death from his ser vant Balthasar.

Thinking that he has just lost his love Romeo rushes to her side and... well if you want to know how it ends I encourage you to go to Whitehouse auditorium and let the cast of Romeo and Juliet entreat you.