In this narrative, Sophomore, Jose Tavares, muses about the performance and his impressions of Park Avenue Armory. WHSAD is proud to call Park Avenue Armory a community partner for many years, and we thank everyone who has continued to strengthen this essential resource for our students.
It all begins with what the actor of Mercutio calls the “naive start”, subtle glances at each other as we sit in our chairs waiting to what will happen. There is so much excitement because there is so much unknown for many, and the simple fact that friends are there adds to the pile of emotions. There is relaxation when sitting, constant giggles and out of pocket conversations emerging. Suddenly however these conversations are interrupted by the fading light, the glow of the day disappears and there is total focus on the center of the play. The darkness that now engulfs the room sets the tone for what is about to begin. It all goes from laughter and chatting to silence, a period of waiting and contemplation.
We enter the first scene and we discover that the acting is not in words, but something more meaningful… actions and music. The classical music decorates the scenes and adds spice to the acting. We see the beautiful dancing done by the characters. Their dances seem to symbolize alliances, vows and gathering. We can see this through the facial expressions of the actors, especially Tybalt who from the very beginning can be seen to be evil. There is this vibe that comes off of the character that just says they are the villain, but in a way that shows leadership, as if he makes the orders. Tybalt is hungry for glory.
We can see the distinction in various different dances, from Mercutio and Romeo showing their loyalty to each other as good friends, to Tybalt indicating his revenge on the loving couple (Romeo and Juliet). We can see there is a really strong connection between Romeo and Juliet, despite all the social conflicts they have to go through. There seems to be an invisible line between them, different classes in life, and their friends seem to influence them as well. They kept being separated but there was always this magical wand that kept uniting them back together, as if destiny had already called their names to be in union. We see there is temporary hate from Juliet, but it wasn’t really hate towards Romeo, it was just a natural feeling where she identifies the difficulties she has to go through to be with him. She turns away from him, but at that moment she runs to his arms as if she knows where her heart needs to dwell.
The most impactful scene was when both Romeo and Juliet were on the left top corner kissing. It goes deeper than just the kissing, it shows total giving of themselves. Of course however the story takes a dramatic turn. There is total blackness and the only thing that sparks up is the white light from the main door with intense music. We hear screaming, showing that Juliet has died. Romeo then goes after her and dances with her corpse, he wants her to spin in his life even if she is dead. He then takes her to the main area where the center is. There are moments of confusion here when Juliet wakes up and finds out her lover Romeo is dead. At that moment she steps back and dances to show her grief, a message saying that love goes into eternity. She kneels and screams while stabbing herself to death.
I found it very beautiful how in her agony she gets on top of Romeo’s corpse and dies on him. The laying of these two corpses show how dramatic love is and how it develops into this radical way of being. Love stabs death and gushes through it to show it is victorious in all possible ways. Love transcends that of the earthly experience, it tries to reach that wisdom which is the greatest form of beauty that exists. Overall, a great experience inside the Armory, there were so many antique things and I felt very small inside the building, like an ant… which makes me say that I’ve come to learn that lighting, music and people are the greatest things that can exist.