After six months of rehearsals, St Andrews International High School in Blantyre finally took to the stage serving five performances of the classic romantic play Romeo and Juliet starting on Wednesday and finishing off on Saturday.
Two performances were for community members and primary schools, respectively.
The institution then staged three more sold-out shows for the public.
This is a reimagined William Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet, whose original version climaxes with tragedy, where both Romeo and Juliet die.
But in this play, directed by drama teacher at the school Kevin Troughton, and Nathan McEwan, Juliet ditches her famous ending for a fresh beginning and a second chance at life and love – her way.
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This hilarious new musical flips the script on the greatest love story ever told and asks: What would happen next if Juliet, played by Shalom Kuyeli, did not end it all over Romeo, played by Sheryl Chanza.
Scoring points on costume, the story starts from the end of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, except that, in this version, Juliet decides not to kill herself over Romeo.
In the play, the audience— which included some legislators— was also introduced to Shakespeare, played by Stephen Kuyeli, who, alongside his wife, try to reimagine the production by twisting it and, in the process, there are misunderstandings before they make amends at the end.
The play has a blend of well-known songs made famous by artists such as Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, Black Eyed Peas and Katie Perry and these kept the audience glued to the stage from start to finish.
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Patrons clapped hands in appreciation in-between the scenes and gave the cast a standing ovations at the end.
At the climax on Saturday, the cast decorated the creative team with flowers and chocolates.
Shalom could not hide her excitement on Saturday, when she described the production as challenging.
“It was my first time to do such a classic tale for St Andrews but I enjoyed playing it with the entire cast,” she said.
Eugene Namboya, who has starred in a number of productions for St Andrews but was doing his last, said “he feels sad to be leaving”.
“But, all in all, it was an amazing show. It was fun compared to my previous outing. I do not speak French but I had to master some words,” Namboya, who played Lance, said.
Troughton said every night was different for the audience.
“It is sad that some students are leaving. This was their last show. Of course, we also had a lot of young ones in the play. Some girls played male roles but handled them well,” he said.
Troughton said they decided to bring back Romeo and Juliet because the story is still relevant.
“This story is well-known in Malawi; many of the songs are well known in Malawi, too. But, then, we had to rewrite it, such that we took away some parts and sections,” he said.
