Balcony Scene

Rujian, Zhou

9/22/2016

The Power of Details

   “Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo”, Juliet says this famous line in Balcony Scene. It is one of the most important scenes in the play Romeo And Juliet because it shows the first deep communication between Romeo and Juliet. In the several versions of the Balcony Scene, I think the Royal Shakespeare Company’s one is the most effective one because the tones, body languages, and understanding of the actors are amazingly well done.
Firstly, the actors speak out the line with great emphasis. The Juliet says “Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo” which emphasizes “thou” which stands for “to be”. She let the audiences feel that Juliet is deeply distressed by the fact that the man she loves is her enemy. And Juliet wishes the man Romeo would not be Romeo. Besides this, the body language of the actors shows more detail. When Romeo first hears Juliet says his name, he was shocked. The Romeo is pointing to the air, his whole body is stretched likes he is trying to touch the “clouds”. Suddenly, when Romeo hears Juliet says his name, Romeo’s body falls down really quick. This action lets me feel that Romeo is surprised and mostly happy to hear that Juliet is thinking about him. I can feel the Romeo is a lively person who is happy because he and his love share their minds. Even though it is an action, it shows audiences more things than lines and helps audiences get into the play deeper.

Both the tones and body languages are based on the understanding of the play. I can tell that the actors must read the lines thousands time and eliminate what would Romeo and Juliet think in their mind. Because it is not enough to say the lines with emotion on the stage, audiences need more descriptions from the actors. Only when the actors fully understand the plot, emotions of the character, they can act their character lively. Lastly, this is the only version that shows on stage. It is the simplest, it has no background music, no fancy costumes and no detailed environment on the back. It is the hardest situation for audiences to understand, but the actors, who express their emotions in the tones and body languages, make this version that impresses me the most.

The other versions of the Balcony scene are also good. The actors also say their lines with emotion, but still not as real as Royal Shakespeare Company's. Furthermore, I think the cartoon version is very interesting. It uses modern language, and put many jokes, funny scene into the plot. It is like a Disney movie and I think it is really cool. After all, a good play is based on the great understanding of the characters and great actors who act the characters out. The details such as tones, body languages and understanding make big differences in a play. This is the power of details!