Students make a start with passionate double bill

28-October-2002

First year Performance students at the University of Wollongong's Faculty of Creative Arts will make their debut this month in two complimentary presentations.

Shakespeare's great love tragedy, Romeo and Juliet will be performed on the faculty's outdoor stage, while inside a concert of Leonard Bernstein's dynamic adaptation of the same tale, West Side Story, will complete the exciting double bill.

Lotte Latukefu, director of the West Side Story concert, said, "it's an amazing opportunity for a very young cast to make use of their own attitudes and lifestyles when approaching such raw emotional material." James Beach, directing Romeo and Juliet added, "I've been asking the cast to bring Elizabethan language into contact with their own understandings of love, grief, hatred and mischief and making links with contemporary culture. These aren't all easy emotions to play but we've also managed to have great fun with it."

Mr Beach, a former student of the Faculty, said, "I've enjoyed working with a new wave of extraordinary creative talent at Wollongong; together we've opened up creative possibilities so that we aren't merely presenting a stuffy period piece or a recreation of the latest film."

Romeo and Juliet ­ Courtyard Stage, Building 25, University of Wollongong. October 29 ­ 4pm, October 30 ­ 8pm, October 31, 4pm, November 1 ­ 8pm, November 2 ­ 4pm.

West Side Story ­ Performance Space, Building 25, University of Wollongong. October 29 ­ 8pm, October 31 ­ 8pm, November 1 ­ 4pm, November 2 ­ 8pm.

Bring pillows and rugs! Entry to both presentations is by donation

For Further Information, photo opportunities etc, please contact Lotte Latukefu on 4221 4384, or James Beach on 0409 226 766.