Greenhill Theater has been practicing for their newest production of “Romeo and Juliet” for months and they finally had their opening night Thursday, November 7. The production went on throughout the entire weekend with their closing performance on Sunday. All the sold-out performances took place in the Studio Theater.

The play was a modern take on the classic story of Romeo and Juliet written by Shakespeare. The dialogue was spoken using old English, the way Shakespeare wrote his plays, but the cast wore modern-day clothes and used modern-day props that included cell phones and other forms of technology.

“The reason behind making the play a contemporary piece was that I wanted to give as many avenues for the students to get into this play as possible,” said theater teacher Valerie Hauss-Smith. “A lot of the time I hear that people feel like the plays are too stuffy and that they do not understand it. Instead, we wanted to make sure that people understood that it’s a timeless story that could take place right now.”

The cast began practicing before school started. They included choreography from the dance company, knife fights, and music solos.

The original four-hour play was adapted to a two-hour play by Hauss- Smith to include the scenes that would make sense but keep the play to the point.

The cast was widespread and included two eighth grade students and featured a new faculty every night playing a reporter. The faculty members included Head of Upper School Trevor Worcester, Upper School English Teacher Joel Garza, Upper School Guidance Counselor Amanda Fredrick and Upper School Director of Community Service Angela Woodson.

“It was really fun to include the faculty members in our before show theater traditions,” said Hauss- Smith “Having them part of our group was really awesome.”

The play received positive feedback from the audience with many laughs. Every show was sold out.

“The show was really enjoyable,” said Junior Matias Henry. “I liked the modern take on the show because I was not expecting to understand the play since I’ve never read the story of Romeo and Juliet.”