Pink Floyd Meets Shakespeare

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Pink Floyd's David Gilmour has long captivated audiences around the globe with his mesmerizing voice. His music is considered a staple of classic rock, so I was surprised when I saw his adaptation of William Shakespeare's Sonnet 18. Even though I had watched videos of several different poets, I was still the most impressed by this video. His musical rendition of an old poem appeals to new audiences, creating a fresh experience even for those who have read it a number of times. Gilmour seamlessly blends the sonnet's beautiful words to the soft sound of a piano, merging two masterpieces.

The text in and of itself is not a new. It has been recited over and over again for hundreds of years. The vast majority of students have been assigned Sonnet 18 as homework in high school, and have been asked to read and analyze it. There is also an overabundance of movies which allude to this work. The sheer amount of popularity that Shakespeare has leads to its overuse. This can often make the text seem dry and boring -- in dire need of some sprucing up -- something that David Gilmour effectively does.

In the video, there is also a large use of cinematic effect when it comes to lighting and calming images. It was interesting that Gilmour chose to include scenes filmed on a sunny and peaceful river to his adaptation. The song does not require any such images and could have been produced as a stand-alone adaptation. However, the gaiety and innocence of such scenes create a spell-binding tone for a sonnet about admiring a lover, allowing it to be more effectively consumed by the audience.

Romeo and Juliet: The Telenovella

BYU Arts' latest installment of the "Theater for Young Audiences" series is Romeo Y Julieta, a shortened, Spanglish version of Shakespeare's classic tragedy  Romeo and Juliet. This hour long rendition of the infamous love story took the original source material and, with some clever tweaking, turned it into a rom-com that goes terribly wrong. The main tweak of the production was the idea of having all of the Capulet family be of Hispanic descent. This caused quite a bit of funny moments of miscommunication between the two families, especially between Romeo and Julieta (Spanish for Juliet)

As mentioned before, this is a production geared towards younger audiences, specifically those in elementary or middle school. The actors implimented many techniques that may be distracting to older viewers, but would keep the attention of those not so mature. The play was also shortened a bit to help keep the attention of the younger ones in the audience (and for people like me who may not have the best attention span for Shakespeare).

The set was very minimalistic. Strategically placed flags were the only means of knowing the setting of each scene, the actors kept their own props in boxes on stage, and no one ever left the stage (costume changes were done in front of the audience). This provided the actors all the attention they needed and made it very easy to not be distracted. The actors did a well enough job, and their Spanish was very good. Even the non-native Spanish speakers were good for this gringo's standards. The actors also provided the show's music and they were very well directed.

Overall, I enjoyed the show. My only complaint about it is the show's length. I am aware that it was meant to be short, for the cjildren's sake. Butt with the unique rendering of the story, I feel that deserved a bit more time to percolate. What felt like a really cool way to tell Romeo and Juliet felt more like a gimmic because it didn't get much stage time. I also didn't get much time to really get attached to any character, and with so many people dying, I felt bad for not mourning for them more.

Them:
Oh no! Mercutio died! How sad!

Me:
Not really. I literally met him 10 minutes ago. I didn't really even get to know him.

All together, however, I enjoyed the show and it is another great addition to the "Theater for Young Audiences" series.