Romeo and Juliet

This past weekend my family and I went to the Shakespeare Tavern to see Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet! It was AMAZING! And I really enjoyed seeing the different interpretation. I have seen both movies and enjoyed them both however seeing it live was much more fun. Also, in the movies, Juliet has been much more mature than I had imagined her to be. She is only fourteen and should not have that strong of a head on her shoulders. This is probably the main reason I fell in love with the play--the actress who played Juliet even though she was in her twenties, was able to catch Juliet's essence of young love and immaturity. She's not supposed to be mature and know what she's doing. She is supposed to be really young and caught up in love! And that's what the actress was able to show! Also, Romeo of course was attractive because you can't have an ugly Romeo...that just doesn't exist. Well...it shouldn't. On a different note, I wish that we had read this play this year and not four years ago. I would have had a much better understanding of it but if that means taking out Hamlet forget it. I noticed how a lot of symbols or allusions went over my head when I first read it. During the play I laughed here and there realizing the little sassy parts and what was actually being said. I'm trying to recall exactly which parts those were, but I cannot. And you know what?! When Romeo killed Tybalt there was blood!! I was like noo....they'll just act it out but they had some little doohickey that made them look like they were actually bleeding!! It was great. A great surprise. I also saw a lot of connections to Hamlet. Probably because Hamlet is in everything. Corruption was really the main key. In Hamlet, Hamlet is challenged by Ophelia--the woman he loves who he believes to be innocent. Likewise, Romeo falls in love with the "fair" Juliet who is also innocent. However, both Ophelia and Juliet lead Hamlet and Romeo to their doom. With each of their deaths, Hamlet and Romeo take drastic action which in the end kills them. So where does the corruption start? Does it start with falling in love with a woman? Or falling in love with a woman who you believe will be innocent for the rest of her life? If the second, it's because a woman who is innocent has to be enlightened at some point in her life and then men cannot accept that she can be that way. The innocent flower must always need protection and be innocent. Without the innocence, the woman is practically nothing. In the end, they all die....if you didn't already know. But it's weird comparing the two....go back and read Romeo and Juliet and look for the pieces of Hamlet. They're pretty cool.