SMS students wow crowd with ‘Romeo’

Sisters Middle School students took on a major challenge in bringing Shakespeare’s classic tragedy “Romeo and Juliet” to the stage on June 1-2.

The young dramatists succeeded beyond anyone’s expectations.

“The play was great!” said Superintendent Ted Thonstad in a letter to drama teacher Kim Dunaway.

“The students did a wonderful job — I am always amazed by what middle school students can do when they get into it. Their performance of Romeo and Juliet was as good as I have seen by (high school) and adult groups.”

Dunaway said she offered the chance to do Shakespeare to a select group of interested students. They had a choice between The Taming of the Shrew and Romeo and Juliet.

The tale of star-crossed lovers in Renaissance Italy “was the resoundingly popular choice,” Dunaway said.

Dunaway said the production was the best experience she’s had in more than a decade of teaching drama.

Although the play was abridged for length, it was not watered down. The students rose to the challenges of dealing with a style of English so archaic that it seems almost like a foreign tongue.

“They more than rallied,” she said. “They took it on and took it to the best level they could.”

Dunaway was also grateful to volunteers who helped with costuming and other aspects of the production.