Tyrone’s freshman class spent Valentine’s Day attending a performance of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet at the Mischler Theater in Altoona.

Ninth grade English teacher Leah Deskevich has been teaching a unit about William Shakespeare, so the timing of the play was perfect.  Thanks to planning by Mrs. Descovich and funding from the Women’s Club, the students were able to go to a matinee performance. 

In class, students wrote their own sonnets, watched several variations of Romeo and Juliet, and dissected some of Shakespeare’s many works.

But reading and watching videos is not the same as being able to experience the performance of a classic in person.

¨Theatre is alive,¨ said Deskevich, ¨[I hope my students learned] that a good story never dies.¨

Traditionally, the cast of a play gets ready behind the curtain, but Romeo and Juliet was an open curtain production, so students could see what happens before a play.

“It was fascinating to see the behind the curtain acts happen right in front of you,” said Sarah Jackson.

Also, instead of a straight classic adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, this production used modern music in addition to clothing worn today.

¨Sometimes it is hard to understand older works with thine, art, thou and stuff like that, but watching the play live with the addition of body language and the reactions of the audience overshadowed the outdated language,¨ said freshman Kayla Michenfelder.

Students from surrounding schools contributed to the play. Bellwood Antis freshman Hunter Gregg and 2017 graduate Ryen Beam were in the production.

¨It was really cool to see people I knew performing, I wasn’t expecting it,¨ said freshman Lucia Isenberg.

“[My favorite part if the play was] Mercutio’s humor, the crypt set, [and] the Talking Heads music,” said Deskevich.

Students appreciated the modern touches used in the play.

“The props used made it more relatable, so the play was easier to understand,” said Dean Grassi.

“When we returned from intermission, the play got really good. Romeo and Juliet secretly got married and arguments started, it was my favorite part,” said Mara Focht.

The biggest complaint about the performance was the temperature inside the theater.

“The play was really entertaining, it was really hot in the theatre though,” said Nick Lewis.

When asked about an open-ended response if Shakespeare’s works should be read or watched today, only 7.5% of Honors/ English 9 students argued against sharing his works.