Omega "Teachers" Appear in Updated Performance of Romeo and Juliet

"Wherefore art thou, Omega?"

During a recent performance at the Center for Performing Arts in Rhinebeck, New York, "Omega" appeared on stage.

A merry troupe of fifth, sixth, and seventh grade students from the Mill Road Intermediate School and Linden Avenue Middle School in the Red Hook School District performed Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare at the Center for Performing Arts. While keeping the original language intact, director Cindy Kubik set the production in modern-day Manhattan and upstate New York.

In seeking to further localize the characters and setting, the group hit upon the idea of casting Friar Lawrence and his assistant Friar Krymsynne Skye (played by Adam Wert and Margaret Wainwright) as "teachers from Omega." Omega donated staff T-shirts to be used in the production.

In the story, Romeo and Juliet reveal their secret relationship to Friar Lawrence and he endeavors to help them in hopes of easing the conflict between their families (the warring Capulets and Montagues). He offers them wisdom, good counsel, and hope. As the neutral "adult" in the play, he represents tolerance and serves as the voice of reason between the two divided families.

This production was the fourth Shakespearean play put on by the group, known as the Mill Road Players, which seeks to introduce young students to the works of Shakespeare and stagecraft.