Romeo and Juliet. Who hasn’t heard of this classic by English playwright William Shakespeare? But what if she didn’t die, what if Juliet Wakes Up. Bet you haven’t heard of that one. That’s what you get from this half parody and side story.

The Annandale theatre team performed this play under the management and watchful eye of Director and theatre teacher Ms. Kylie Murray.  

 “I think the script does a good job of captivating the audience. It’s based on the play Romeo and Julie, it’s the moments after Shakespeare’s play ends,” said Ms. Murray. “So taking that kind of story to a theatre competition where the audience is all theatre people. They get all the inside jokes. They’re getting all the references to Shakespeare. So it’s kind of like a know your audience moment”

From the tech team behind the scenes, to the actors memorizing and rehearsing their lines, everyone has an important role and contributed significantly to the play as a whole. Just like the good ole AC, nobody notices unless it’s not working, or in this case, acting up.

Assistant stage manager, sophomore Ren Coleman is no different than the rest of the production crew when it comes to preparing for the real show. “Actors start doing vocal warm-ups or reading out their lines and the tech crew behind the scenes start setting up the stage and scenery for the actors,” said Coleman.  

“To try to keep the rest of the cast in the moment and to ease nerves, “We also try to surprise each other so the One Act feels more real,” said Junior Eshan Van Heerden. Van Heerden plays Romeo and often tries to calm his other castmates from getting too riled up. 

Districts was quickly approaching, and the Theatre team had been hoping the months of preparation was going to pay off. Although there were some miniscule mistakes, the team was feeling confident. 

“We [received] really great feedback from the judges on what we could improve on,” said Junior Cecilia Marigliano. Marigliano, who plays Juliet, and Van Heerden acting as Romeo performed fantastically; dazzling and immersing the audience in the fictional story.

A testament to the team’s success can be accredited to, “Rehearsing almost every Friday since December,” said Junior Lucas Torres. Torres, a sound technician, is responsible for running the opening and closing music.  

Just like any other team, whether it be sports, debate, or theatre, having confidence in your castmates isn’t optional, its mandatory.  “Our success [can be credited] to communication and trust with each other,” said Coleman. 

After the Districts win, Regionals was next up on the docket. The Atoms were looking to continue their success on a larger stage: the Occoquan Region. With a little bit of layover between Districts and Regionals, the team had time to clean up a few minor errors. 

Needing a regional win to ensure the play would go on, the mentality switched. “Last show, best show,” said Marigliano. The judges made it pretty clear from the jump that there was little leeway for error. “We got a lot of criticism from the judge who was giving us feedback, so I honestly wasn’t sure how well we did,” said Torres. 

Despite the growing nerves and harsh criticism from the judges, the Atoms prevailed victorious. “They had formatted the announcement of the winner [to be] very suspenseful,” said Eshan Van Heerden. 

“It felt extremely exciting to win, like a huge rush of energy,” said Coleman.

Even though March Madness hasn’t started yet, the Cinderella run was still alive, and the Atoms were acting and dancing their way to States. 

“Seeing everyone around me be so happy made me feel extremely accomplished,” said Van Heerden. “It was also extremely amazing to celebrate with people I had become so close with.” 

With a “next man up” mentality, the Atoms theatre team was prepared for anything. “I’ve loved seeing people step up and grow into their roles,” said Torres. 

An often-overlooked aspect of winning is all the memories and relationships made along the way. “I’m really grateful for this experience; it leads me to making new friends and being closer with older friends,” said Coleman. 

The Atoms are moving on to Charlottesville to compete for a State Championship on March 8th. Good luck Atoms!