OPS Fest: Romeo and Juliet (Abridged)

The Capulets and Montagues hate one another. Romeo (Montague) sneaks into a Capulet party and meets Juliet (Capulet). They marry in secret. Juliet’s cousin challenges Romeo. Romeo kills him and is banished. Juliet fakes her death. Romeo doesn’t realise, takes poison, and dies beside her. Juliet wakes and stabs herself.

Original Practice Shakespeare (OPS) Fest brings no-cost repertory Shakespeare to parks and venues throughout the Portland Metro area. The company uses the original practice techniques of Elizabethan England: limited rehearsal, scrolls in hand, audience interaction, and an onstage prompter. In Shakespeare’s Era, the audience knew the actors had not rehearsed and that the only context each had of the play was their own role on a scroll. The play was as fresh to the actors as the audience.