The director of EUSC’s Romeo & Juliet doesn’t believe in traditional. Salvador Kent, the student who pitched—and is currently directing—the company’s main show for this academic year, argues that there is no traditional production of Shakespeare.
“If a modern audience saw the way Shakespeare was originally performed in his time, they might not even recognise it as theatre. Whatever Shakespeare we do, it must come from today. We are working with Shakespeare and his literary forms as academic constructs, but we’re only using them to put on a show for Edinburgh in the 21st century”.
Salvador acknowledges the futility of a student trying to render a brilliant Shakespearean text. This veneration for the source material has led the current production of the EUSC to undergo what Salvador calls a “top-heavy rehearsal process”. It involves something called Shakespeare Gym, which is a little like book club. The actors read and translate the text into modern-day English to parse the exact interpretations, jokes, and purpose of each line.
This pedagogical approach to the production process has also brought on external experts. Rebecca Mahar, a Shakespeare PhD scholar at the University of Edinburgh, coordinates the fights and intimacy of the show. The production is advised by Courtney Bassett and Caden Scott, who run the Edinburgh-based company Half Trick Theatre. The design team is composed of both graduates and professionals in costume and scenic design, all of whom work closely with the student team of the EUSC to bring their visions to life.
With centuries of history looming over the production, Salvador suggests that the endeavour of putting on Shakespeare can seem more like a scholarly exercise in translation. In some ways, the history can be beneficial. “We can look at everything that’s come before, see what’s worked, and construct something that works today. There’s no need to consider if we’re making something novel—the culture will decide that.”
The act of translation also applies to the actors: “An actor’s job in a Shakespeare production is to translate the archaic language into something that works now. They must guide you through the story such that even if you don’t understand the language, you must still find that it is good theatre.”
The emotions in a Shakespearean text are uninhibited; the characters give monologues and soliloquies. His plays are unashamed of their drama—they probe deeply at the things which make us human. It is this intensely epic form that continues to draw viewers and directors to Shakespeare hundreds of years on.
“It’s unreal, but that’s what theatre is meant to be.”
Edinburgh University Shakespeare Company’s Romeo & Juliet is scheduled to run from 10-14 February 2026.Outside of the EUSC Main Show, the company hosts two Shakesperimental shows, which are smaller in scale but more ambitious in their adaptations, and also performs at the Fringe.
Image is of the cast of EUSC’s The Taming of the Shrew (2023) by Emily Shade, presented to The Student as press material.