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HILLSBOROUGH: Middle school ‘Seussifies’ Shakespeare

By Eileen Oldfield, Staff Writer
   In Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” the Montagues and Capulets are forever feuding, but in the Hillsborough Middle School drama production “The Seussification of Romeo and Juliet,” which opens Friday, it’s a battle between Monotones and Capitulates.
   Directed by seventh-grade literacy teachers Barbara Doyle and Liana Chernoff, the script uses “Seuss-like” language to tell the story, which was adapted by Minnesota-based playwright Peter Bloedel.
   Performances are scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with a performance featuring the production’s understudies at 2 p.m. Sunday. All performances are in the middle school annex cafeteria, with tickets available for $6.
   The Hillsborough production added a few changes to the already altered book. For starters, Ms. Chernoff and Ms. Doyle said they incorporated Dr. Seuss’ art into the scenery, makeup and costumes.
   And though “Seussification” was originally a one-act play, the directors split the script to have a two-act play, and divided certain roles, particularly the play’s narrators, so they could cast more kids.
   ”We tried to mete things out so we could get more kids in,” Ms. Doyle said. “We pull Seuss into it to lighten up this tragedy.”
   While the play covers Shakespeare’s basic plot, including Romeo and Juliet’s forbidden love, the feuding families, no characters die in the play, and the script carries a strong message against the title characters’ suicides.
   ”For many students, this is the first show they’ve ever been in,” Ms. Doyle said. “They’ve never done it in elementary school or ARIS.”
   ”It’s really difficult, we’ve found, to take a really serious piece of dramatic literature, and throw it up on stage,” Ms. Doyle added. “They don’t have that depth yet. They don’t have that experiential background yet.”
   Students auditioned for the play in September, with rehearsals starting in October. Scheduling conflicts and inclement weather meant limited rehearsal time in November and December, and the students performed their first dress rehearsal Monday.
   Despite the limited rehearsal time, the students took to the script quickly, Ms. Doyle said, adapting to the Shakespearean plot and Seuss-language.
   ”It’s in iambic pentameter to begin with, so it was easy to translate,” Ms. Doyle said.
   Though their first dress rehearsal had its share of forgotten lines, makeup adjustments, and even a few staging changes, the students and their directors rehearsed the show again Wednesday.
   Despite any accidents or mishaps, as one student learned when she slipped while entering the stage, their directors had them work it into the show.
   ”If you fall on your stomach, do the worm,” Ms. Doyle said. “It’s Seuss.”