Romeo y Juliet: a bilingual production of a classic tale

There’s something kind of magical about watching a centuries-old story feel brand new again, and that’s exactly what happened when the Middle School English, Theater, and World Language departments came together to bring a special performance of Romeo and Juliet right onto campus.

Our 7th and 8th graders have experienced Shakespeare in the traditional way: reading the text, unpacking the language, or taking a field trip to see it performed. But this time, Overlake flipped the script. Instead of going into the world, the world came to them.

The Seattle Shakespeare Company arrived on campus with a unique twist: a bilingual production of Romeo and Juliet, weaving English and Spanish seamlessly throughout the performance. Suddenly, Shakespeare wasn’t just something to study; it was something to feel, hear, and connect with in a deeper way.

For students studying Spanish, it was an entirely new kind of learning experience. One where language wasn’t confined to a classroom, but alive on stage. And for our bilingual Spanish students, the impact landed even more personally. This wasn’t just a play - it was seeing their language, their rhythm, their world reflected in something as iconic as Shakespeare. More than a few of them shared how excited they were leading up to the performance with their teachers.

At Overlake, it’s not just about teaching the classics, it’s about reimagining how students experience them and about creating moments where disciplines intersect, where stories stretch across cultures, and where students have a chance to see themselves in the narrative.

The actors even took time after the performance to share their experience with our students. Since the dialogue was in both Spanish and English, they had to make sure every word they spoke was performed with the appropriate accent, often switching languages multiple times in each line. 

To learn more about this production visit the Union Arts Center website.