“I love this cast; they’re a positive force [and always] help build each other up,” director and former Northview graduate, Matthew McKay said.
This is McKay’s first year directing the theatre department play. He graduated from Northview in 2002, and kept in touch with teachers and the Advanced Theatre Arts class since, which led him to apply for the directing position.
Goodnight Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet is Northview’s 2019-2020 school production. McKay chose a Shakespearean piece because one has not been preformed at Northview in the last 20 years.
“Goodnight Desdemona was a nice compromise between classical stories and modern comedies, which the audience is more familiar with,” McKay said.
Shakespeare, especially in high school, has the stigma of being boring and difficult to understand. Goodnight Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet, however, is a modern day telling of the classic Shakespeare plays Othello and Romeo and Juliet, giving a nice blend of the two. The play contains both Old English and Modern English.
Dealing with Old English and Shakespearean sonnets came with plenty of challenges on its own.
“A big part of doing the play was homework, because we have to know what we were saying. If the actor doesn’t know what they’re saying the audience doesn’t know what they’re saying,” senior Iriana Cotto said.
Not only is the language difficult, but because the cast only had ten people, Cotto is one of the few seniors.
A typical cast has around 30 people, so cutting down the cast to around one third of the size changed the dynamic.
“I feel like with more people, there’s more you have to control, so with less people, you can control yourself,” Cotto said.
With a smaller cast the rehearsal process tends to be more intimate, giving the actors a better chance to improve their chemistry on stage and give the audience a raw, connected performance.
The smaller cast also allows the actors to focus more on their character and personal growth as an actor.
With the small cast, the difficult language and the new director, the pressure was on to create a performance that they would be proud of and the audience could enjoy just as much.
It was McKay’s hope that the audience would “enjoy the work as a whole, instead of any particular singular part.” If you missed the play, you can still be a part of upcoming theatre events such as 24 hour theatre and this year’s musical Sister Act.
