Shakespeare Reading vs. Seeing

This was the first time that I saw Romeo and Juliet performed live.  The scene that I had chosen to examen prior to the performance was the balcony seen in Act 2, in which Romeo and Juliet profess their love to each other.  While reading the play, I pictured a balcony on which Juliet stood overlooking a forrest with Romeo kneeling under the balcony.  Since this scene is known as “the balcony scene”, it was odd that there was no actual balcony in the performance, as I had pictured. In addition to this, the unconventional interpretation of the play in this performance was very different from what I had imagined seeing the play live would be.  Although the lack of a balcony in the performance bothered me at first, the way in which the director planned out the scene did not detract whatsoever, in my eyes, from the feeling of a balcony seen.  During this scene, Romeo was at the far end of the “stage” kneeling towards Juliet, who was standing on a platform of chairs.  The chairs were designed to act as some sort of balcony for Juliet to stand on, as she performed her monologue.  The way Romeo kneeled on the opposite of Juliet created a feeling that he was lower in height to her, which created the atmosphere of a balcony seen.  In addition to the different appearance that I had pictured in my mind, the same passion was portrayed in the performance as I had imagined it, while reading.

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