Where did Juliet learn Spanish, Anyways?

The BYU Theatre put together an unconventional adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliette, calling it Romeo Y Julieta. The crucial component of this adaptation was the use of separate languages between the two rival families, the Capulets and Montagues. The idea of the two enemy families speaking separate languages had great potential for creating a heightened sense of the rivalry between them. Unfortunately this tactic was not capitalized on enough to meet this end.

            The characters’ tendency to switch between English and Spanish was confusing, especially for an audience that speaks mostly English. These language shifts created a visible and audible friction that had a rather jarring impact on the audience. Whatever heightened sense of difference between the families that may have been gained due to their separate spoken tongues, was lost as the audience repeatedly focused on the dual languages themselves, rather than the impact the dual languages were supposed to have. This was a natural effect of such a tactic, however it could have been neutralized. Had the tactic succeeded in creating a heightened sense of disunity and rivalry between the two families, the confusion created by the languages would have been overlooked by the audience.

            The reason the dual languages did not achieve the desired effect is actually because the tactic was not used fully enough. Initially the play gave the impression that the two families did not understand each other very well. As the action progressed however it was discernible that the two families understood each other quite well, despite speaking different tongues. The exchange of dialogue flowed smoothly between characters. There were no attempts made by characters to understand each other, which would have been expected had they had not understood each other. They simply continued conversing as smoothly as if they actually were speaking the same language. There were a handful of times where Romeo tried to pronounce Spanish words correctly, but these attempts served the purpose of comic relief and did not add to the plot whatsoever.

            This lack of capitalizing on the language barrier ruined the effect of the dual languages. This rendition of a famous play was less an adaptation, than it was a simple bilingual presentation of the original. Had the language barrier actually been utilized to drive the plot, it would have achieved a fantastic effect, but since it did not, the effect sizzled and died.