A pair of star-crossed lovers perform on a Bendigo stage later this month, with the curtain about to come up on Girton Grammar School's 2023 production of Romeo and Juliet.
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Families Capulet and Montague leave fair Verona for the high rolling, high stakes world of 1980s Las Vegas - where issues of power, influence, and get-rich schemes draw uncomfortably close similarities to Shakespeare's original setting.
Production director Mandy Ellison said despite the otherworldly nature of the play, similar themes rang true to balances of power in the high school actors' lives today.
"This is their world - relationships, impulsiveness, spontaneity, impetuousness.
"One of the things we've focused on is looking at is how when young people aren't surrounded by responsible adults, they can find that they tip over the edge a lot more quickly."
"And we looked how the adults in the play, while they mean well, nobody gives these kids, a reason for managing and dealing with their emotions and so it just spirals outta control."
And while you may think the combination of Shakespearean English and high schoolers would not mix, Ms Ellison said learning the play was an education in how similar our communication is despite the more than 400 year difference.
"One of the things they've learned very quickly is that it's actually the way we speak.
"It's the rhythm of how we normally speak. So once (the actors) got over the fear, they just let the story tell itself and the language gives it all to you."
Girton Grammar's production of Romeo and Juliet is on for three nights later this month.
Where: The Capital, 50 View St, Bendigo VIC 3550
When: 21 Jun 2023 - 23 Jun 2023, 7pm.
Tickets available for purchase here.
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