Shall LCT perform a most grand play?
Tho’ it look rather diff’rent than before.
It tells of lovers true who find a way
To break the bonds of hatred and of war.
While socially distant this play you’ll see
(For ‘tis so vital to safeguard thy health)
With thine own school, or friends, or family,
All throughout and beyond the Commonwealth.
Daft swordfights and wittiness will ensue
Yet Tragedy must be our story’s end.
Great victories and downfalls thou canst view
But doth not fear, children – ‘tis all pretend.
This digital show you shan’t soon forget –
Family Streaming Passes:
MEMBER ACCESS: February 12 – May 21, 2021
Stream video from LCT’s recent production of the show right from the comfort of your own home! Your access codes will be sent via your email confirmation and will be valid over the weekend of your choice – from 5:00pm EST on the Friday to 5:00pm EST on the Sunday.
Streaming passes are available for $15.00, $25.00, $50.00, and $75.00. We ask that you please consider how many people will be watching the stream when you select your pass amount!
PUBLIC Streaming Pass 2.26
Don’t want to stop with Romeo and Juliet? Enjoy the magic of theatre and support Lexington Children’s Theatre by purchasing a Fall Family Membership! Memberships last through May 31, 2021 and give families access to ALL of the incredible streaming content available through LCT – from our innovative new content like Romeo and Juliet to our “Previously at LCT” streaming productions!
Spring Family Memberships
Review!
Our writer, Jessica, recently enjoyed this streaming production from the comforts of home with her family and has a great review!
I truly enjoy theater, especially when children and young adults are involved, but this was my first experience watching virtually. I was able to cuddle up with my children and cat in the comfort of my own bed and have the story of Romeo and Juliet brought to life before us!
I appreciated that the volume was fairly consistent and easy to understand. The set was absolutely beautifully decorated, and the actors’ use of space and their set was fantastic. There were many audible gasps from those in my “front-row” seat of this performance!
Many of us are familiar with the story, but LCTC’s performance brought about wonderful feelings of an old familiar tale coupled with such vibrant, invigorating actors’ youth. Each scene was wonderfully acted through incredible mannerisms (check out the first swordfight scene!) and incredible facial expressions from Mercutio, especially. I could feel Juliet’s pain in discovering her love’s expiration, and Romeo’s previously. My children and I enjoyed Juliet’s reenactment of “Oh, happy dagger!” The concise nature of the adaptation made this play good for littles or bigs who can’t still for long. Overall, the entire performance was wonderful and an absolute delight.
Things to Understand Before You Stream On Demand
Read the Playbill Educational Play Guide
About our Video Streaming Process
We are thrilled to offer this unique opportunity to stream our production of Romeo and Juliet! If you purchased a public streaming pass, your password will be valid during the weekend you chose from 5:00pm on Friday until 5:00pm on Sunday. If you purchased a school streaming pass, your password will be valid during the week you chose, all day Monday until 4:00pm on Friday. During that time period, you can watch the show as many times as you would like!
Remember, the video link and password can be found in your Ovation confirmation email! If you do not receive your confirmation email within one hour of purchase, please check your spam filter. If you experience technical difficulties, feel free to email khenriques@lctonstage.org! Thank you!
About LCT’s Professional Digital Productions
Because we are not able to have audiences in our building at this time, LCT’s 2021 production of Romeo and Juliet was created specifically to be streamed as a digital show! State Healthy at Work and CDC guidelines were closely followed during the rehearsal and filming process. Some of these protocols include:
- Covid testing schedule and Covid testing for all staff, cast, and crew.
- Masks worn during the rehearsal process and frequent hydrogen peroxide rinses during filming for actors.
- Masks worn by staff and crew at all times.
- Asked all performers to limit their contacts to the absolute minimum possible and had 6ft sectioned spaces when off stage and in dressing rooms.
- Sanitization of costumes and props following every rehearsal and run.
About Romeo and Juliet
We would give this Things to Understand guide a “spoiler alert” but, well… the play is 400 years old! If you have any questions about the content of the story, a great place to start would be SparkNotes, a general summary, or reading through the play, all of which are available with a quick Google search. There is some mild language throughout the play (e.g., “the damned in hell do say…” and phrases like that). Our production of this classic play is a shortened, 5-person version that is about 1 hour long, so the play has been streamlined down to its core storyline, with actors playing multiple parts throughout.
This play is a great way to spark conversations about so many topics that are still relevant to us today. From the themes of hate and love, to mental health, to the societal pressures our young protagonists face, to what makes a healthy (or unhealthy) relationship, there are lots of jumping off points for you to start discussions with your family or class. For more in-depth analyses and activities that you can use, we recommend downloading our Educational Play Guide for the show HERE.
Romance plays a large part in the story of Romeo and Juliet. As such there is lots of flirting, several on-stage kisses, and Romeo and Juliet hastily decide to get married over the course of the play. It is important to note that while this is a love story, it’s not a particularly healthy love story. Both our main characters constantly make rash decisions, fall in and out of love very quickly, and become very codependent very fast. Juliet is also under pressure from her family to marry a man they have picked for her, and there is a scene towards the end of the play where her father gets very angry with her and yells at her after her refusal to marry that person that could be distressing for some viewers. We hope you’ll take the opportunity while watching this play to discuss with your family or class what healthy relationships do like, whether they are romantic, platonic, or familial.
It is important to remember that the story of Romeo and Juliet is a Tragedy. Like many other Shakespearean tragedies, many people die in the end and our story comes to its conclusion in sorrow. The hate both the Capulet and Montague families spew for one another leads to disastrous consequences. In particular, two separate characters are slain during sword fights on stage. All stage combat you see was carefully choreographed and rehearsed multiple times before filming to make sure it was 100% believable for the audience yet 110% safe for the actors on stage. Additionally, all deaths are portrayed non-graphically and we do not use fake blood in this production.
On the very off chance that someone is not familiar with how this story ends, we want to put a strong content warning for self-harm and suicidal ideation for the end of this play. Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy because, in the end, both protagonists choose to commit suicide rather than live without the other. While we might not consider mental health to be one of the show’s central topics, it is important to acknowledge that young people in the 1500s and in 2021 alike face a lot of challenges. We encourage you to visit the youth specific resources provided by the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/help-yourself/youth/ if you or someone you know needs support.
We love this story because it gives us a way to make the work of Shakespeare accessible and exciting for our younger audiences. It’s been called “the greatest love story ever told,” and while that may not be entirely accurate, there’s no doubt that Romeo and Juliet is a classic story that we’re still talking about and telling hundreds of years after it was written. It’s a story focused on the issues of young people, and while some things have changed since Shakespeare’s time, others are still very relevant today. We love this story because it is still speaking to us, making us laugh, making us cry, and making us think – even in 2021.