Ed: Did you make notes while you were watching the performances of Romeo and Juliet, Gemma?

埃德:杰玛，你看《罗密欧与朱丽叶》的时候做笔记了吗?

Gemma: Yes, I did. I found it quite hard though. I kept getting too involved in the play.

杰玛:做了。但我发现这很难。我总是太投入到戏里。

Ed: Me too. I ended up not taking notes. I wrote down my impressions when I got home. Do you mind if I check a few things with you? In case I’ve missed anything. And I’ve also got some questions about our assignment.

艾德:我也是。最后我没有做笔记。我回家后就把印象写了下来。你介意我和你对一下吗?以防我错过什么。我对我们的作业也有些疑问。

Gemma: No, it’s good to talk things through. I may have missed things too.

杰玛:不，把问题讨论清楚很好。我可能也错过了一些东西。

Ed: OK great. So first of all, I’m not sure how much information we should include in our reviews.

艾德:好的太棒了。所以首先，我不确定我们应该在剧评中包含多少信息。

Gemma: Right. Well, I don’t think we need to describe what happens. Especially as Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare’s most well-known plays.

杰玛:是吧。我觉得我们不需要描述发生了什么。尤其是《罗密欧与朱丽叶》是莎士比亚最著名的戏剧之一。

Ed: Yeah, everyone knows the story. In an essay we’d focus on the poetry and Shakespeare’s use of imagery etc., but that isn’t really relevant in a review. We’re supposed to focus on how effective this particular production is.

艾德:是的，每个人都知道这个故事。如果是写论文的话，我们会关注（戏剧中的）诗歌，以及莎士比亚对意象的巧妙运用等等，但这些内容对于剧评来说并不切题。我们应该关注的是这个剧院上映的这部剧是否达到了预期的效果。

Gemma: Mmm. We should say what made it a success or a failure.

杰玛:嗯。我们应该说出是什么导致了它的成功或失败。

Ed: And part of that means talking about the emotional impact the performance had on us. I think that’s important.

艾德:还有一部分是谈论演出给我们带来的情感影响。我认为这很重要。

Gemma: Yes. And we should definitely mention how well the director handled important bits of the play – like when Romeo climbs onto Juliet’s balcony.

杰玛:是的。我们应该提到导演对剧中重要部分的处理有多好，比如当罗密欧爬上朱丽叶的阳台时。

Ed: And the fight between Mercutio and Tybalt.

艾德:还有茂丘西奥和提伯尔特之间的争斗。

Gemma: Yes. It would also be interesting to mention the theatre space and how the director used it but I don’t think we’ll have space in 800 words.

杰玛:是的。（在剧评中）写写剧场空间以及导演如何利用空间也很有意思，但800字的篇幅有限，这部分恐怕无法加进去。

Ed: No. OK. That all sounds quite straightforward.

艾德:没有。好的。这一切听起来都很简单。

Ed: So what about The Emporium Theatre’s production of the play?

艾德:那Emporium剧院的演出怎么样?

Gemma: I thought some things worked really well but there were some problems too.

杰玛:我认为有些东西效果很好，不过也有一些问题。

Ed: Yeah. What about the set, for example?

艾德:是的。比如，布景怎么样?

Gemma: I think it was visually really stunning. I’d say that was probably the most memorable thing about this production.

杰玛: 我认为这部剧的视觉效果真的很棒。要我说，这恐怕是整个作品中最令人难忘的地方。

Ed: You’re right. The set design was really amazing, but actually I have seen similar ideas used in other productions.

艾德:你是对的。布景设计真的很棒，但实际上我在其他作品中看到过类似的想法。

Gemma: What about the lighting? Some of the scenes were so dimly lit it was quite hard to see.

杰玛:灯光怎么样?有些场景光线很暗，很难看清。

Ed: I didn’t dislike it. It helped to change the mood of the quieter scenes.

艾德:我并不反感。它有助于改变安静场景的气氛。

Gemma: That’s a good point.

杰玛:有道理。

Ed: What did you think of the costumes?

艾德:你觉得戏服怎么样?

Gemma: I was a bit surprised by the contemporary dress, I must say.

杰玛:我必须说，我对现代风格的服装有点惊讶。

Ed: Yeah – I think it worked well, but I had assumed it would be more conventional.

埃德:是的，我认为它很有效，但我以为它会更传统。

Gemma: Me too. I liked the music at the beginning and I thought the musicians were brilliant, but I thought they were wasted because the music didn’t have much impact in Acts 2 and 3.

杰玛:我也是。我喜欢一开始的音乐，我认为音乐家们很出色，但我认为他们后面被埋没了，因为音乐在第二章和第三章没有太大的影响。

Ed: Yes – that was a shame.

艾德:是的，真遗憾。

Gemma: One problem with this production was that the actors didn’t deliver the lines that well. They were speaking too fast.

杰玛:这部剧的一个问题是演员们没有很好地表达台词。他们说得太快了。

Ed: It was a problem I agree, but I thought it was because they weren’t speaking loudly enough – especially at key points in the play.

埃德:我同意这是一个问题，但我认为这是因为他们说话不够大声——尤其是在剧中的关键时刻。

Gemma: I actually didn’t have a problem with that.

杰玛:实际我觉得还好。

Ed: It’s been an interesting experience watching different versions of Romeo and Juliet, hasn’t it?

艾德:看不同版本的《罗密欧与朱丽叶》是很有趣的经历，不是吗?

Gemma: Definitely. It’s made me realise how relevant the play still is.

杰玛:当然。这让我意识到这出戏仍然很重要。

Ed: Right. I mean a lot’s changed since Shakespeare’s time, but in many ways nothing’s changed. There are always disagreements and tension between teenagers and their parents.

艾德:对的。我的意思是，自莎士比亚时代以来，很多事情都发生了变化，但在很多方面都没有改变。青少年和父母之间总是有分歧和紧张。

Gemma: Yes, that’s something all young people can relate to – more than the violence and the extreme emotions in the play.

是的，这是所有年轻人都能感受到的——比剧中的暴力和极端情绪更能让他们感同身受。

Ed: How did you find watching it in translation?

艾德:你觉得看翻译版怎么样?

Gemma: Really interesting. I expected to find it more challenging, but I could follow the story pretty well.

杰玛:真的很有趣。我原以为会更有挑战性，但我能很好地理解这个故事。

Ed: I stopped worrying about not being able to understand all the words and focused on the actors’ expressions. The ending was pretty powerful.

艾德:我不再担心不能理解所有的单词，而是专注于演员的表情。结局相当震撼。

Gemma: Yes. That somehow intensified the emotion for me.

杰玛:是的。这在某种程度上加剧了我的情绪。

Ed: Did you know Shakespeare’s been translated into more languages than any other writer?

艾德:你知道莎士比亚被翻译成的语言比其他任何作家都多吗?

Gemma: What’s the reason for his international appeal, do you think?

杰玛:你认为是什么原因让他蜚声国际?

Ed: I was reading that it’s because his plays are about basic themes that people everywhere are familiar with.

艾德:我读到这是因为他的戏剧都是关于世界各地的人都熟悉的基本主题。

Gemma: Yeah, and they can also be understood on different levels. The characters have such depth.

杰玛:对，它们也可以在不同的层面上被理解。这些人物都很有深度。

Ed: Right – which allows directors to experiment and find new angles.

艾德:没错，这让导演们可以尝试和寻找新的角度。

Gemma: That’s really important because …

杰玛:这很重要，因为……