“Romeo & Juliet,” featuring star-crossed lovers from feuding families, is one of Shakespeare’s most iconic plays. Although most people have seen spinoffs such as “West Side Story” or have actually read the play, few have actually seen the show, giving New Trier theater students the opportunity to show the school what a Shakespearean play truly is. 

“Even if you don’t like reading Shakespeare, that’s so much different from seeing his plays,” Ms. Kirsch, the play’s director and a New Trier theater teacher, says. “They were never intended to be read, but to be experienced.”

Students auditioned for the show at the end of the 2024-25 school year and the cast list was released a month later. They began rehearsal in August and were expected to be fully memorized by then. 

“[August rehearsals were] 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day until school start[ed],” senior Olivia Harris, who plays Juliet, says. “We had a week less than we normally do [for rehearsals], so we only had five weeks, which is insane for a Shakespearean show.”

Shakespearean English is in iambic pentameter, a certain meter that each actor must follow in order for the lines to sound natural and for the audience to understand them. 

“They [the actors] have to understand Shakespearean-style English, but they also have to understand all the clues that Shakespeare left the actors, like where to breathe, where to pause, and how to deliver a certain emotion,” Kirsch says. 

Not only are students required to memorize complicated lines, but they are also learning the art of sword fighting. Although an entertaining aspect, it adds another complex layer to the play. 

“The sword fighting isn’t that difficult to practice,” senior David VanDamme says. “But to get to the speed where it looks like you’re trying to kill each other, that’s where the really hard part comes.”

Although the work is demanding and rehearsals can span up to seven hours on the weekends, the students wholeheartedly love the show they have been able to produce. 

Students must recite their lines while they are fighting, which “adds another layer of work, but it’s going to be so cool when the hard work has paid off,” senior Sarah Hutchinson says.

Despite the difficulty of the roles, and the fact that they depict characters from 300 years ago, actors on the show must still find ways to implement themselves into the role.

“I’ve found parts of Juliet that I’ve really grown close to, and I see a lot of myself in her,” Harris says. “This is just the coolest show I’ve ever been a part of at New Trier.”

Many students share the same sentiment and have grown closer to each other due to the fact that the piece is entirely student directed and run, common for previous shows such as langiappe.The show will be performed Sept. 17-20, tickets on sale now and free for students who show their student ID at the door day of the show. 

“Students will find it funny. They’ll find it interesting,” Kirsch says. “And of course, it’s a classic love story. It’s such a wonderful, great show to come out and see everything that students are capable of.”