Tag Archives: plays

Romeo and Juliet Play

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A few days ago, our class just finished reading Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, and watched both movies. It was…an experience.

I have to put it out there, this was definitely one of the more boring sections in our English Curriculum Requirements. Almost everyone has heard the story of Romeo and Juliet: two children from feuding families fall in love, and love brings them both to a terrible end.

At first when we went to check out the play from the library, I flipped through a few of the pages, and to me (and most other people in my class), the language made absolutely NO SENSE. I tried to process what the author was trying to imply, but every interpretation of what I THOUGHT it meant, was actually very different from what the actual translation was.

Throughout the daily reading sessions we had, my mind always drifted. It was almost impossible for me to focus when the language was so confusing! More questions kept popping up in my head as we read, but the most prominent one was: “How did the people during this time period understand Shakespeare’s unique language?” As we read Shakespeare’s works, we can truly see HOW our language has changed throughout several hundred years (461 to be exact!). Of course, I was thinking this while we were reading during class, which made the homework we had after a lot harder for me, but it was worth it.

Okay, on to the movies. The original one that was published in 1968 was a decent movie. It captured a majority of the plot, and the dialogue was almost exactly the same. I can most definitely say that the new version of the Romeo and Juliet movie was NOT what I expected.

For those of you who don’t know, the new version is a spin-off of Romeo and Juliet, where they are (hear me out) part of different mafia gangs. Could they have captured this any worse? Additionally, the ending was a complete shocker. This movie was quite hard to watch for me, as I feel the director lost the true meaning of what William Shakespeare was trying to convey.

Out of 5 stars, I would give the old version a solid 4 out of 5. Pretty good, but not too great. The meaning was there, although they skipped a few parts. The new version? 3 out of 5. Lost the meaning halfway through the show, but they did a decent job on the spin off, I suppose. 

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Play Review: All My Sons by Arthur Miller

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My English teacher recently recommended that I listen to or read some modernist plays in preparation for the next unit, and needless to say, I didn’t regret it. I found the play very interesting and moving, and I found the play’s nuance and Miller’s masterful usage of tension especially significant to the play’s powerful nature.

Set during the post-WWII era, All My Sons follows the tale of the Keller family, consisting of Joe Keller, the head of the family, Chris Keller, Joe’s son, Kate Keller, Chris’s mother, as well as Larry Keller, who went missing during the war. While Joe and Chris both think that Larry is dead, and that Kate should move on, she refuses to, deciding instead to turn to superstition to keep her hope alive. Meanwhile, Joe also has a dark secret in his past. During the war, he and his partner were convicted of selling cracked cylinder heads to the air force, causing the deaths of 21 pilots. While Joe was acquitted of any charges, Steve, his partner, was jailed because of this.

After establishing the beginning conflicts in the play, Miller goes on to expand upon the fatal flaws of each individual characters, He establishes Joe’s unwillingness to talk about the crime, implying that he was the one who was actually guilty of it. Kate’s vehement denial of Larry’s death is made more apparent in late act 1 and act 2, as she sees random events, such as finding Larry’s baseball glove, as signs that he would come back. Finally, Chris reveals his idealism to Larry’s old fiance, Ann, whom he is dating.

I won’t spoil the rest of the play, but I think this is a play that is definitely worth listening to, watching, or just reading. Miller does a great job of highlighting the flaws and traits of every character in the book, and making that work with the overall story is no small feat. Miller’s worldbuilding and writing style in this novel characterizes a break from a typical Modernist style of writing; While using very relatable and realistic characters and a realistic premise, Miller ultimately alludes to the theme of pursuing the deeper meaning of life and the world. I would recommend this book for anybody who enjoys modernist works of literature, or just anybody who wants to watch a classic American play in general.

All My Sons by Arthur Miller is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library.

Rajiv Joseph is one of the greatest playwrights of our time.

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I know this is a loaded statement, but I truly believe it. I recently had to read and perform one of his plays, Gruesome Playground Injuries, for an acting class. This play was my introduction to Joseph’s works and it is astonishing to see how his brain works. His plays are normally short, only a few scenes, not typically exceeding one hundred pages. He is able to develop characters so emotionally complex within that short span it will leave readers so invested and attached that they linger in their brains. At least, that is what happened to me.

My most recent read was a play of his called Guards at the Taj and it was nothing short of mind-altering. The play has four scenes, consistent with Joseph’s concise style, however, it is nowhere near lacking in volume. The play is set in Agra, India, in 1648. Everything, excluding the language, is accurate to the time period.

The first scene opens with the only two characters in the play, Babur and Humayun, two imperial guards at the Taj Mahal. Humayan is very rigid and regimented in his ways. His father is the head of the imperial guards and I believe him to have a mindset of success in quantifiable measures. Babur severely opposes this; he is philosophical in his beliefs and mindsets and sets emotion and abstraction to be prominent ways of his ways of thinking. The two talk a lot about beauty: what it is, who appreciates it more, where it can be found, and what can and cannot be beautiful. Babur accuses his friend of not knowing beauty as he does, but when the two of them see the Taj Mahal for the very first time, the men begin to weep, they drop their swords and hold hands.

The second scene opens with the men standing in two feet of blood. Babur clutching a sword, and Humayan blinded. The gore depicted on the stage is usually what is only alluded to by playwrights. Joseph takes this standard, crumples it up, and throws it out of the window to be found by a lion who rips it to shreds. The stage Lining the stage are barrels of 40,000 hands (the hands of the 20,000 men who created the Taj Mahal), all of which had been severed by Babur and Humayun. I believe that the gore was necessary to the point Joseph is making: what is real will happen and be seen. The reality of the play was that nothing that Humayan claimed he had talked about that would get the men out of their current standing situation (as low-class imperial guards) or even the conversation he said he had with his father (claiming to beg at his feet not to kill Babur when Humayan sold him out). None of it was pictured. What was shown was Humayan severing and cauterizing the hands (and his relationship) with his best friend, Babur, and I think Joseph was determined to make all of the gore and messages in his scenes undeniable.

I believe that this is a piece that everyone needs to read. I really hope to see it performed one day. It stands relevant to so many different situations and in so many aspects of relationships, social hierarchy, and the search for beauty, and the feeling of reading it for the first time cannot be encapsulated in words. And all of it in 45 pages. Rajiv Joseph is a genius.

Romeo and Juliet Play Review

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Personally, I enjoyed reading the play very much, especially since we were able to read some scenes in class. Even though at one point the Shakespearian language may be difficult to read at first, I thoroughly appreciated the language later. The grammar of the Elizabethan English was kind of confusing, but eventually it made sense. (My class called it “Yoda talk” because of the different orderings of phrases for the verbs and subjects)

Another way I was able to view the play was through the lens of West Side Story. I watched the 1950’s version, and I thought it was amazing how the ideas and themes of Shakespeare’s stories can be just as applicable in different times and settings. Through the dynamics between Maria and Tony, so many parallels can be made between the movie and the play.

Overall I would rate Romeo and Juliet a 8.5/10 for its amazing storytelling and descriptions and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to read a good story, and also push themselves with this challenging piece of literature. When watching the whole play. One point about the writing that I really enjoyed was the extended metaphors, and also Shakespeare’s wit in how he included double meanings in many of the things he writes, for both comedic and dramatic purposes.

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Why Should We Read Shakespeare?

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Recently in my english class, we started to read Hamlet which left me skeptical at first. I’ve always known Shakespeare to be one of the greatest and most influential writers of all time, but I wasn’t entirely sure what the point in reading seemingly outdated literature was when it came to solving the issues that face us today.

Almost immediately, I realized that this preconceived notion I had about old plays (and literature in general) was extremely wrong. 

It is definitely true that some sentiments in old writing will not seem as relevant to us today, but a lot of the concepts certainly are still relevant. One of the things Shakespeare did best was his ability to analyze the time in which he lived and what issues prevailed around him, and wrote about them in such a way that they could maintain relevance centuries in the future.

A few themes I have noticed in Shakespeare’s work that are still issues faced today are gender, race, and class discrepancies in society. While these issues certainly looked different in the late 16th to early 17th century time period in which they were written about, they still manifest in daily life and are at the center of many political debates.

If there’s one thing I have learned from previously my wrong assumptions about Shakespeare, it’s that I want to encourage people to read historically significant works to help them understand what paved the society we see today like I have recently done as it has greatly changed my outlook on life for the better.

– Taylor O.

Many works by William Shakespeare are available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. They are also available to download for free from Libby.

Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare

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Ending my first year of high school, we read the famous Shakespeare play, Romeo and Juliet. I will say I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. Last summer, I watched the play live thanks to Shakespeare by the Sea, and I thoroughly liked it. But now that I’ve read it, I know that I definitely didn’t understand everything I was hearing. I understood parts of it but some details went in one ear and out the other. Reading the book was enlightening, informative and very interesting; especially in how we can see glimpses of issues that are still happening today.

As many already know, Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy in which Romeo and Juliet are two star crossed lovers who end up taking their own lives. While their deaths are a big part of the tragedy, there are so many other deaths and unfortunate events that come up before the end. Many times, I tend to forget that this story is much more than just some young kids who fall in love and die. The true desperation and helplessness of these two children make things much sadder. The fact that they saw death as their only option can really connect to today’s society. While it may be stupid to die just because you can’t be with your beloved, it’s the fact that they see death as the only option left for them, like many young people today. Young people today may not have the same issue as Romeo and Juliet, but they may feel the same helplessness and the same feeling of being trapped.  It may seem simple to find another way out of this dark situation, but like Romeo and Juliet, people sometimes end up going to the extremes first. Shakespeare was very good at connecting his plays and other writings to reality, and this is just one of the many examples. 

After reading this, I also found that there were so many other people who were affected other than Romeo and Juliet, those mainly being Mercutio, Tybalt, Paris, and Benvolio. I thought Mercutio and Paris had to suffer the most. Mercutio got caught in a feud he wasn’t even a part of and Paris had no desire to fight and only wanted to be with his love. And yet (SPOILER) Romeo and Juliet cost them their lives. And then there was Benvolio, who lost everyone around him. He lost his two best friends to a feud that didn’t have any reason to continue. Sometimes innocent people suffer some of the worst consequences. While Romeo and Juliet are already sad by themselves, the deaths of innocent lives truly make this play a tragedy.

Previously, I had liked the play. I thought it was pretty fun, hearing dialogue between each character, watching scenes play out, especially those with Mercutio. Mercutio was my favorite character in the play, probably like most people who have watched or read the tragedy. His Queen Mab monologue was fantastic and I found it a really interesting choice for his character. After reading the play, I enjoyed it more. It isn’t just fun now, it’s truly a tragedy. This play was fun at times, but after reading, I understand how sad it is, for these young people to feel trapped, for them to die so young, for them to suffer. If you ever want to read the famous Romeo and Juliet, I would definitely recommend it as long as you can understand or have a small translation of Old English. I used the Folger’s library edition that includes small translations of words and phrases on the side. Shakespeare was a huge influence and he made some amazing works. I can’t wait to read more of his works in the future! 

-Nicole R.

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Shakespeare by the Sea: Romeo and Juliet Review

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This is my first time seeing something by Shakespeare by the Sea, and my first time actually seeing a show of the famous Romeo and Juliet play. Despite how famous the story of Romeo and Juliet is, I have never actually seen a live performance of it, until Shakespeare by the Sea came around. Shakespeare by the Sea is a nonprofit organization that performs theatrical plays for free in communities around California. Last year, they were not able to tour and perform and they have just started again this summer. I was really lucky in catching this show, as it was part of the 25th anniversary and the last tour with the original founder of Shakespeare by the Sea.

I hadn’t been interested in Shakespeare and had just come along to watch the play because my mom asked if I wanted to. There was nothing I had to do that day, and I had never actually seen Romeo and Juliet yet, so I had no reason not to go see it. I was not disappointed. It was your usual Romeo and Juliet play, following the original story, but I had plenty of laughs and it was a lot of fun. There were a lot of moments, especially in the beginning of the play, that made me laugh out loud and smile. They spoke in the old, english dialect, but I understood it just fine. The actors did an amazing job, in portraying their character, the emotion, and making it fun for everyone. The actors help set up the stage, perform the entire thing, and take it down afterwards. The entire venue is outside and they work and perform for over an hour. The actors and people who work with Shakespeare by the Sea are honestly so amazing and put in so much time and effort in it. 

Shakespeare by the Sea has sparked my own interest in Shakespeare and his works and I am so happy to have been able to see them perform. If you ever get the chance to see one of their performances, I highly recommend going because they work super hard for their productions, and it is completely free to watch them. It is super fun to watch them perform and if you do ever end up going to a performance, make sure to give them a donation for their dedication to performing!

-Nicole R.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller

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The Crucible is a novel based around fear. Every action that occurs is due to the fear of punishment and fear of others. It appears completely outrageous yet parallel’s the red scare in the United States and even some of the fear-based racism occurring in today’s society over the coronavirus. There is much to be learned from this novel and the chaos that fear-based decisions create.

However, it is an interesting story with intriguing insights into human nature. The entire story is based on a lie given by a girl, Abigail Williams, who does not want to get in trouble. She and her friends were caught dancing in the woods, something banned in the Puritan society in which The Crucible was set in. Instead of accepting blame for her actions, she blames Tituba of witchcraft as a scapegoat. From this, society degrades blaming everybody of witchcraft for one reason or another. Though truly, not a single person was a witch. People were blaming each other for witchcraft as either a scapegoat for themselves or to get vengeance on a neighbor.

The courts, the people, and the church all believe the web of lies that have been created. Falling into complete hysteria. Nothing matters other than catching witches. They leave their children, their crops, their animals, and their society in ruins just to accuse one another of actions that did not occur.

This plot is intriguing because it mimics many aspects of current life and, though it is a play it is still easy to read. It attempts to teach society the lesson of not allowing hysteria to control life which, is something that today’s society needs especially with the fear of the coronavirus. It allows readers to really reflect on their own lives and see the faults in their own society.

This is a must-read for everybody. The message it gives is something that every human in today’s society must understand to help society reign in their senses and not let the world collapse with fear of the virus.

-Ava G.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. 

The Fifth Column by Ernest Hemingway

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Fifth Column eBook by Ernest Hemingway | Official Publisher Page ...

The Fifth Column is a play by American writer Ernest Hemingway, first published in 1938. The play tells the story of Philip Rawlings, an active, attentive warrior at night, though ostensibly a bystander with no connection to Spain. This play is the only one that Hemingway wrote in his whole life and has a strong autobiographical character. Rawlings, the hero, was based on Hemingway. The Fifth Column is a three-act play depicting the Republican government in Madrid besieged by Franco rebels during the Spanish Civil War. An American, Philip Rawlings, and a German, Max, sent by the Republican government security service to spy bravely on the rebels, capture an important prisoner, and then let him escape.

Many fifth column members were subsequently captured. Under severe torture, they confessed their accomplices, and three hundred others were arrested. Rawlings and his assistant Max eventually break up the rebel spy ring in Madrid’s fifth column. In time of peace, everyone’s life is equal, and no one can deprive another person of the right to live. But when the smoke of war is in the air, it is easy to form a disorderly ethical environment. Especially when the unjust party temporarily wins, they do not care about ethics at all, but enjoy the privileges brought by the victory of war and indulge their desires to do whatever they want.

The evil side of human nature is concentrated. Hemingway’s writing has a special style, that is, colloquialism. It is in these seemingly plain colloquialisms in his novels that the atmosphere of the story is profoundly delineated, as is also the case in The Fifth Column, where the story appears to be simple, but the ups and downs of the characters are clearly revealed in the spoken language. The play focuses on Philip’s love affair with Dorothy, the daughter of a middle-class American, who is vain and incompetent. In the end, Philip gave her up for his political convictions in favour of a grisly Moorish woman. From Dorothy’s characterization, it is clear that Hemingway has begun to use the rich but insatiable American female as a symbol of a hostile class in The Fifth Column.

-Coreen C.

Book Review: Humboldt’s Gift by Saul Bellow

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Humboldt's Gift (Penguin Classics): Bellow, Saul, Eugenides ...

Born into a Hungarian Jewish immigrant family, Von Humboldt Fleischer had the romantic temperament of a poet. Many things were sacred in his eyes, and he dreamed of transforming the world with art. But his success did not last long, and he was vilified by some unscrupulous writers. By the end of the 1940s his romanticism was out of date and the era of fanaticism and poetry was over. Art could not transform society, so he tried to get involved in politics, but his bad luck was so bad that he was sent to an insane asylum. Although he was released from the hospital, he soon died in a New York tavern and was buried in a funeral mound. Charles Citrine was the son of Russian Jewish immigrants. After his rise to fame, he went to New York to follow the great poet where Humboldt helped him to become a university lecturer and to write a historical play based on him.

While Humboldt was very poor, Citrine’s play was a hit on Broadway. Fame was followed by money and beauty and he lived a life of luxury. The temptation of material broke his worship of the authority of art and his pursuit of serious thoughts, which made him lose his creative inspiration. At the same time, he could not get rid of the intellectual disposition. His life is full of material and spiritual contradictions, both want to enrich the human soul, but also want fame and wealth. His soul was lost in uncertainty and anguish. After years of spendthrift, divorceable wives, dissolute mistresses, lawyers, and social gangsters trying to cash in on him, he went broke and ended up in a cheap boarding house in Spain. Just when he was at his wit’s end, he was presented with Humboldt’s bequest — two script outlines, one of which has been made into a movie and has become a worldwide sensation. Humboldt’s gift not only saved his life and future, but also gave him a deeper understanding of Humboldt’s pain and madness along with the fate of intellectuals.

“Humboldt’s Gift” is a genre painting of contemporary American society. No street, no building, no car, no dress, and no hairdo is imaginary. Even fictional characters are based on real people living in the real world. “Humboldt’s Gift” is a panorama of American society on a grand scale. From hooligans to senators, from the White House to chicken joints, from mystics to mafia-controlled booty shops, poets, scholars, cultural crooks, big money gamblers, judges, lawyers, psychiatrists, and moneymakers, the list goes on and on.

-Coreen C.