On the 15th of January, several students in year 10 from Dartford Grammar School for Girls visited the Barbican Theatre to see a new adaptation of the well-known play - Romeo and Juliet.
A common opinion was that the play certainly was able to entertain the audience although there have been numerous versions of the same story retold again and again. However, a significant difference has been the changing of gender of characters like Mercutio and the Prince.
Many people had different opinions on the switching of gender of characters. As some found in very few cases that certain puns were not required or that it was not effective as intended. However, others loved the idea of giving females more authority in the play as this brought the play a lot closer to our modern-day society.
Daya, a student who saw the play stated: “I loved the play. I thought it was beautiful. Mercutio as a woman was great, the acting was great because even though Mercutio is a man, we knew who the woman was straight away. I also thought the modern jokes (like flossing) kept young audiences engaged.”
The original play of Romeo and Juliet may have had portrayed characters that would have lived centuries before nevertheless the themes of love and conflict still lives to this day. Especially in our GCSE English textbooks…
