I had a poster of Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in my room. It was huge, maybe five feet long and three feet wide. It was the scene of the two of them in Romeo and Juliet seeing each other through the fish tank. Some days I pretended I was Juliet seeing Romeo and some days I was Romeo seeing Juliet for the first time, ethereal beauty. I would stand up, alarmed, hand to my chest, eyes alert. I would do this while I listened to the soundtrack. There are two soundtracks for this movie. One of the popular music used in the film and one of the score. I listened to the one of the score, reenacting various scenes set to the music.
This came in handy in ninth grade when I was cast as the narrator for Romeo and Juliet in the school play. I already had the entire opening monologue memorized because it is the first track on Romeo and Juliet Volume Two. I was flawless in my role.
When I was thirty-seven I visited Verona by train with my husband and made him record me performing the opening monologue in the street outside of Juliet’s house. I posted it to my social media and sixteen of my ninety-nine friends on Instagram watched. One of my friend’s husbands commented “Wow”.
Dr. Rachel Turney is an educator and teacher trainer. Her critiques have appeared in New City Magazine. Her poetry can be seen in The Font. Her research has been published and presented in (highlights) Impact Journal, Opening Minds Conference, Women’s and Gender Studies Consortium at the University of Wisconsin, Social Justice Symposium at the University of Missouri, and the International Postdoctoral Research Conference in Bangkok. Blog: turneytalks.wordpress.com
