Two months ago, Mr. Rivera, the high school English, history, and guitar teacher at Orcas Christian School, decided that the students would be putting on Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. They had read and discussed the play the previous year when COVID shut down school at school for the last months of 2019/2020 and the kids were doing distance learning at home and online. Now back in school all year, Rivera took on the challenge of directing the production.
(If you don’t know Andy Rivera, he’s a humble person, as are all of the teachers at OCS. He doesn’t let on that he’s multilingual, has traveled abroad to fascinating places, and can play just about any song you suggest on the guitar. I’ll never forget attending a talent show on Orcas when he and his two sons went onstage, fresh to the island, and played songs on their instruments with such quiet confidence and talent that my jaw dropped. They flat-out stunned the crowd.)
Scripts were handed out in April, the high schoolers decided who would take on each role, and the memorization began. For those unfamiliar with Shakespeare, it took some intentional thinking to wrap their heads around what the words meant.
Scripts were brought to practice on trips to the mainland for drive school…
Meet Alina ~ Juliet 
Meet Evan ~ Romeo 
Meet Meriel ~ Mercutio and Second Watchman (playing out Romeo’s lines here) 
At this early stage in April, the students were digesting the meanings of the lines and memorizing more by the day 
Evan and Alina had plenty of lines to take on, and Meriel began learning the lines of many of the other characters as well 
Meriel became the quiet yet enthusiastic, self-appointed understudy for various cast members; in later videos you’ll see her filling in for other cast members when they couldn’t make it to rehearsals 
Evan had never been in a theatrical production before, so having a title role in a play was a gigantic leap
Rehearsals began.
Mr. Rivera reached out to Emma Lamport, a parent of an OCS grade-schooler, because she has experience in the dance, fashion, and media industries. She swiftly became an invaluable asset, pouring countless hours into the planning of dances, the envisioning of set design, and the sewing and acquisition of costumes and props. Her husband, John Burris, became the prop builder. Between Emma’s dedication and the generous lending of costumes by Orcas Center, various elements began to take shape while Mr. Rivera directed the cast during every spare hour he had after school.
Meet Mr. Rivera ~ Director 
Meet Cadence ~ Friar Laurence
Meet Lili ~ Tybalt 
Lili has a natural stage presence, confidence, and strength in carrying a role
Alina has acted in two plays before, and this was her first time in a title role 
This was Mr. Rivera’s first time directing a play, though he’s quite experienced in directing students! 
Meet Nick ~ Lord Capulet (Juliet’s father) 
Meet TJ ~ both Benvolio and the Apothecary 
TJ is a delight to watch – he has a natural knack for acting and emoting and lets it all flow the minute he’s onstage
Members of the cast reported that Cadence has a natural ability to memorize voluminous lines speedily and relatively easily 
Meet Diego ~ Lord Montague (Romeo’s father) 
In real life, these fathers are brothers, and sons of Mr. Rivera; they both have natural inclinations as powerful performers
Every rehearsal began with prayer.
Orcas Christian School was in session, at school, all year long. There were no closures and no transmittals of COVID. It was a real testament to prayer, as school board members prayed intentionally and consistently over the school every single week about the issue. 
Evan’s always happily on standby to help solve technology issues
This is Mrs. Becca.
Meet Mrs. Becca ~ Juliet’s Nurse
After learning her lines and diving into enthusiastic acting, she was told by her doctor that due to a health issue, she would have to refrain from speaking aloud. As OCS’s high school math teacher and Juliet’s nurse in the play, that recommendation meant she would have to reserve all the voice she could allow for her students. With only two weeks until the show, she had to hand over her role to Mrs. Q., OCS’s 5th-8th grade teacher. The line-learning began afresh.
Meet Mrs. Q ~ Juliet’s Nurse (understudy at the last minute)
Not the type to do anything half-heartedly, Mrs. Q. absorbed all the lines she could in the short time she had
Cadence also has the ability to project and emote well, and with each rehearsal his acting was more amplified – what a ball to watch! 
Meet Gaby ~ Lady Montague and a dancer
Gaby is a bright light of enthusiasm, always quick to encourage others and brighten the mood backstage
Meet Kameah ~ Sampson and a dancer
Kameah is another whose acting talent is naturally strong and emphatic
Meet Ash ~ Lady Capulet 
Ash has the natural voice and acting ability to carry a role with power and feeling – she is a theatrical force 
Nick is hilarious – spend any time around him and you’ll be laughing at his clever humor 
Meet Gabe ~ Count Paris 
Gabe is a somewhat quiet, unassuming chap,
and he went onstage and acted his role with dignity and emotion, which built each performance night
Mr. Rivera also reached out to Doug Bechtel, known for the countless productions he’s directed here on the island, who began coming to the rehearsals to share his acting, directing, and technical advice.
Emma brought on Cienna Richardson to help with sewing and costumes, knowing she is interested in getting as much experience in fashion as possible since her goal is being a fashion designer in Paris someday. Cienna, a homeschooler, eventually ended up being a dancer in the play as well when a quick understudy was needed.
Thanks to Doug’s kindness in lending lighting, the amphitheater’s ambience began taking shape for the evening performances.
In late May, the high schoolers went on an end-of-the-year camping trip to the Hoh Rainforest in the Olympic Peninsula. Even there, they practiced their lines in rapid form to see if they could get the play down to around an hour.
They also practiced their dancing in the campground.
And on the way back while awaiting the ferry home, TJ reinjured a torn ACL and needed quick help to get to the van on time.
Back at school, the practicing continued.
Doug Bechtel also lent swords he made, whose heavy weights are accurate for the period 
As the time grew closer to the performance dates, final preparations were made.
Emma estimates having spent around 100 hours volunteering her time for this endeavor 
Emma’s painted conceptions for the set design 
The cast doubled down on rehearsals.
Performance time! Two shows were planned…
The first ended up being postponed until the next night due to rain, and then a third performance was scheduled for June 9th. The cast had come so far. The afternoon of the first performance, the sky was beautifully blue and there was no wind to threaten a change of weather for the evening.
9 PM!!! Here goes! I was backstage for the first performance, so you’ll first get a look at what life was like behind the scenes…
Meet Kami ~ Prince Escalus 
Kami is OCS’s secretary and she came out quietly in rehearsals, then fueled her performances with explosive oomph
Meet Owen in the back right ~ First Watchman 
Meet Bella ~ carrier of the all-important “Kissing” sign during key scenes 
It was fantastic, at least what I could hear and see through the red curtain!
Here’s a look from the audience’s perspective on the night of the second performance. Meet Satine ~ Balthasar and a dancer, Trinity ~ Gregory and a dancer, and Matthew ~ Abraham.
At intermission, OCS Principal, Terry Pottle, spoke about how this play came about. I didn’t record the beginning of his speech but I wish I had, as it was very inspiring. As there was no budget for theater and the arts, especially at the end of this uniquely strange COVID school year in which no tuition was charged to the parents, he challenged the audience to vote with their wallets as to whether they wanted more productions like this. He said something like, “If you think the price of this ticket should’ve been $200 instead of $5, feel free to write us a check for what you think it’s worth.” What he said was much more articulate, but you get the idea. The next morning, someone came to the school office and handed Mr. Pottle a check for $200. The following night, Terry offered a similar challenge, and again, someone came in the following day with a $350 check for their ticket!
My iPhone storage was filled at this point and I didn’t want to take time during the play to manage it, so I planned to get videos of the end of the play on the third night.
The third performance was added at the last minute.
After all of the hard work to make this production happen, it just made sense to do one more night. Staff members from the previous year had flown in for 8th grade graduation, so it was a chance to show them the performance as well.
Meet Sofia – greeter and all-around helper
She is Mr. Rivera’s daughter, helping with the concessions made by parents of the cast
The audience was large and the cast was dynamic this final night! It was such a ball to watch the students behind the curtain and see them quietly and individually psyching themselves up to knock it out of the park on their last chance to go big. Alina was in a state of total awareness mixed with a studious air of serious concentration as if about to take the bar. Nick was making facial expressions and air gestures in his seat, deep in his own realm, preparing to unleash his inner Capulet once more. Diego was pacing the floor by himself in the back of the darkened gym, readying himself for the limelight. Makai was walking back and forth deep in the persona of his servant character. Cadence floated past me several times in a happy yet impenetrable glazed-eye state of Friar readiness. When I told Evan his acting and stage presence surprised me since he was a little more robotic in the rehearsals, he lightheartedly replied, “I was always going to eventually do it!”
Meet Cienna ~ now a dancer 
Meet Makai ~ Peter 
Here is a short snippet of a speech made during intermission on the final night by Craig Mattson, Vice President for Education of Adventist schools in western Washington.
These shields are stunning – they were made and painted by Lili and her dad, Shaun 
You don’t really know what’s going to happen at the start of a project like this. There are so many details, so many lines, so many moving parts. I think the result was even better than anyone imagined, and every member of the cast gave it their all. Not only that, they worked like a well-oiled machine – treating each other respectfully; working hard; and making it a positive, unforgettable experience not one of them will forget for a long time.
To Mr. Rivera, I am eternally grateful for this process through which you led the students. It required that you put every extra ounce of yourself into them. It required that they work hard, show up all the time, embrace endurance, and work as one organism – for months. Each student is so uniquely different from the other, and this showcased the beauty of their harmonious efforts when put side-by-side with each other day in and day out. I just love how wonderfully they pulled together as one. What’s more, these students got to experience a taste of their own potential; their ability to keep pushing and growing and drawing out talent from within and the resulting success together. I’m sure they now realize how much more is possible someday in whatever areas they pursue. On another note, these kids have now lived out Shakespeare’s writing in the flesh. It took a fair bit of time to fully understand what their lines meant, and someday they will be able to pick up literature written hundreds of years ago and work through what it means with confidence. This was not just “a play;” this was a magnificent journey. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Thank you, too, to the people already mentioned who handled so many aspects of the play to support the students in this wonderful effort: Emma and John, Doug, Mrs. Becca, Mrs. Q., and Kami. Thank you to those not mentioned above who contributed essential efforts: to Mr. Claus for being at the rehearsals and plays to man the audio and lighting; to Jake Perrine, Keith Light, and Sarah Hane for coaching the kids in acting; to Mrs. Becca for designing a flawless program (see below); to Mrs. Pottle, Valentina Rivera, and Dawn Parnell for selling tickets and concessions; to Mike Parnell for doing lots of quiet clean-up after the plays; and to the Parnells for hosting a cast party afterward.
Thank you, finally, to the cast and crew, for allowing me to be a fly on the wall and document the wonder you produced. I feel honored to have observed what you created. It was an absolute joy. Forgive me (and assist me in correcting it) if anything here is out of order. You now know the play better than most of us do.
Each student gave direct verbal permission to be documented on this post.
