The Palmetto High School’s shortened 80’s-themed adaptation of Romeo and Juliet was performed on Friday, April 14 and the matinee was on Saturday, April 15. The Paw Players successfully put on this production after several failed past attempts.

The director for the play, Robert Gratzer, seemed grateful to finally have pulled off Romeo and Juliet after several errors in previous tries. He mentioned having to cancel the 2020 show because of Covid-19 and cancelling the 2021 show because of the lack of preparation. Gratzer also mentioned “giving up on performing this play” but the students “really wanted to be the group that pulled off Romeo and Juliet.”

One of the audience members during the matinee, Olivia Brown, “loved the play.” She mentioned the large range of emotions it put her through and the wise use of the background music. However, Brown disliked the loose 80’s theme and said it felt unnecessary.

Danaille Hughes, the Set Design Director for Romeo and Juliet, said she enjoyed participating in the set design for this play. Hughes has been assisting in the set design throughout her years at Palmetto, but this year she was in charge of everyone designing the sets. She mentioned the difficulties of building Juliet’s balcony and creating a safe staircase but overall had a nice time throughout the play.

Braden Connors, an actor in Romeo and Juliet, said the play was “enjoyable”. He said that the play was stressful at certain times but was very fun. Connors also mentioned the issues cooperating with others on how the scene would go because everyone had a different image for it.