Die regelmäßigen Besuche des Englischen Sommertheaters auf Schloss Haag sind schon als Tradition am GOGY zu bezeichnen.
Am 10. September 2014 fuhren rund 120 Oberstufenschüler/innen unserer Schule nach Geldern, um sich William Shakespeares berühmte Tragödie Romeo and Juliet anzusehen. Lesen Sie hier eine Rezension des Stückes - natürlich (wie die Aufführung selbst) auf Englisch!
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is one of the most iconic tragedies in literature. Even today, this legendary story still retains it cult status. Therefore, it is not really a mystery why this piece of art is part of our A-Levels, and should be part of our general knowledge. But to make our approach to its language, story, theme etc. easier, the idea persisted to visit an actual play. I personally was very excited, to be given the opportunity to see something like this get to life, not on a TV screen, but right in front of you on a stage. And it was great!!!
The open stage was not caging the actors, who vividly made use of it, even engaging the audience. The whole surrounding of the actual place we all sat in, giving the play a natural, exciting, castle-like atmosphere. It was all adding up to a great personal experience. The fact that the setting was back in the late 16th century, did not stop the actors to give the drama a personal, comedic note to its bitter core story. The way how actors came to the stage as one character, left the stage, came back as a total different character, but being able to completely fall into the new role was an incredible achievement. The dynamic of the play, it's fluent way of being told, it was capturing our attention. Especially the work with the props, turned out great.
Yes, there was some criticism about some rather "weird" parts. The most iconic scene with the balcony for example. The actual balcony turned out pretty small, improvised and bizarre looking, since Romeo had to kneel, otherwise being taller than the actual thing. The sword fights lacked some seriosity, making them look a bit cheap and releasing lots of build up suspense.
But for the price, it was a great show. Especially afterwards, the enthusiasm and good criticism made its way to the actors. They were congratulated, and even students of our school asked to take pictures with them!
At the end of the day, we were all pretty certain, that even though the drama is pretty old and does not compete with the youths interests of today, it definitely is timeless. For it made us laugh and think, turning out to be a great idea for a class trip, making us all enjoy literature together . Talking, discussing, reflecting. Foremost, giving us a new perspective on writing.
Dennis Trautermann (Q2)