English follows Japanese!

ジュリアードの演劇科によるシェイクスピアのヘンリー五世を観に行ってきました。

学校で演劇科の実際の公演を観に行くのは初めてのことでした。小さい建物内にある演劇・舞踊・音楽科の3部門ですが、お互いの公演をみるのはなかなか少ないもの。今回は一緒に校内新聞を作っている友達が出演していたのでついに観劇デビューしました！

演劇のクオリティはかなり高く、素晴らしい演技。特に主役のヘンリーがもの凄く長いセリフをすらすらと、シェイクスピア特有のアクセントをつけながら話す姿には圧倒されました。

しかしシェイクスピア、当然ながらなかなかストーリー理解が難しい。。！古い英語が半分以上聞きとれず、あー私の英語もまだまだだなあ。。勉強しよ。。と思いながら観ていたところ…

隣に座っていたアメリカ人の友達が、休憩が始まると同時に、

「何言ってるか半分くらい分かんないけど、みんな上手いね！！」

と言ってきたので、ああ、英語が母国語の人にもむずかしいんだな、と安心しました。

ジュリアード演劇科の公演、おすすめです！

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Shakespeare’s Henry V by Group 47 became my first Juilliard Drama experience today.

I have always wanted to go to drama performances at Juilliard (especially knowing that drama division is the one contributing to the lower acceptance rate of the school), but it had been hard to find time during the school year – but now that it’s finals week, I finally got to see their play.

The quality of the performance was just wonderful. It had humorous, serious, and cute elements at the same time –which I didn’t really expect from a Shakespeare play– and the intimacy of the theater added more excitements, as actors were close to the audience. I decided to go to more and more drama productions from now on, as the production was so good to be missed.

About 10 minutes after the performance began, I was starting to realize that it was so hard to understand old English used in the play (yes, it was my first experience watching Shakespeare in English). I know these actors are so good, but how come I don’t get the storyline so well!? I guess almost five years of living in the U.S. doesn’t train me enough to be able to understand Shakespeare…….. I was trying as hard as I could to understand the lines.

Then, as soon as the intermission started, my American friend sitting next to me said to me,

“I don’t understand half of what they are saying, but they are soooo good!!!”

This, was the moment when I got relieved to know that I was not the only one who was a little lost (well, I’m sure she understood more than half of it but whatever, she made me feel better0).

I guess I need to dedicate some time this summer to read some Shakespeare so I could go see more drama productions next year, without getting lost.