The romance of "Romeo and Juliet" can be understood in any language, even if you don't speak it.
Listening to it in Spanish can be just as beautiful as watching it performed in Shakespeare's original version.
The N.C. Arts Council received a grant to perform "Romeo y Julieta" tonight at the Arts and Science Center Auditorium. Students at Hickory High School got a little taste of what it was like to perform the classic in another language a day early, though.
Members of Walltown Children's Theatre, who will perform "Romeo y Julieta" tonight, led workshops at Hickory High and H.M. Arndt Middle schools Thursday. Students got to read passages of some of the more famous scenes, including Romeo's fight scene with Tybalt and Romeo and Juliet's balcony scene, in Spanish. They warmed up in English, first.
"It was harder than I expected," said Jonathan Bethea, a junior in the Spanish I class who read some of the passages. "It's hard to stand up and read it in Spanish."
He said it helped that he'd read the book in English last year.
Savannah Sowers, however, is a freshman. She hadn't read the book, and was jumping into the readings cold. She, too, said it was hard to read passages in Spanish — especially since she's only had Spanish for a few months.
Jose Velasquez said he can sympathize. He plays Romeo in the production.
"It's hard enough to be Romeo, but to do it in Spanish? If you mess up one line, the audience will know," he said. "I've been fortunate to work with a wonderful cast and crew, which makes it easier."
Walltown Children's Theatre has been working on the play for some time. They wanted to introduce it to the schools.
"It's Shakespeare for a new generation. It's for people who are not native English speakers, and for people who want to test their skills," said Joseph Henderson, with Walltown Children's Theatre.
He tried to show the students that what Romeo and Juliet went through is not so different from what students go through now.
"The story's not so different from today. Romeo was 16. He was young, handsome and liked to talk to the ladies," Henderson said. "When he was in love with Juliet, he didn't know if he should speak or wait. That's what you go through today. Should I text her, should I e-mail her, should I call her, what should I do?"
The program is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts. It will only be performed in Catawba, Wayne, Robeson and Chatham counties. The counties were selected based on higher Latino populations and were spread out across the state, said Lynn Loehr, co-executive director for the United Arts Council of Catawba County.
Although the performance will be in Spanish, there will also be a translation on a screen onstage, Loehr said.
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