An audience of about 645 crowded in front of the stage and suffered through the cold to see Tuesday night's outdoor performance of Romeo and Juliet.
The play, performed by the Penn State School of Theatre, began at 6:30 p.m. on the Hintz Family Alumni Center lawn. The play will also show tonight and Thursday at the same time.
"Overall, it's just captivating, it really grabs you," Ned Kimble (junior-psychology) said. "It's too bad it was windy and cold."
When the folding chairs provided on the lawn were full, audience members sat on blankets or the stone wall along the side of the lawn or, like Kimble, simply stood in the back.
At the start of the play, the audience was quiet and largely unresponsive. As the play progressed, the show elicited more responses. At one point, the antics of a very hungover Mercutio brought laughs and some groans of "ew" as he threw up.
Kimble said he is always impressed with the School of Theatre's "emotionally powerful" productions.
"I always leave them feeling transformed," he said.
For Stacy Miles (junior-elementary education), it was elements of the visual production that were most impressive, including the venue and the costuming.
The style of the costumes was diverse, including the SWAT team look of the police, the fur coat of Prince Escalus and the casual button-down shirt and jeans of Romeo.
Miles also enjoyed the use of the building.
"It was really cool how they sort of made the outside of the building the inside sometimes," she said.
One example of this was when Romeo climbed out of a first floor window of the alumni center onto the stage to enter Juliet's room.
For the balcony scene earlier in the play, Juliet hung her head out of a second floor window and Romeo actually climbed a trellis next to it to reach her during their conversation.
Actors didn't stick to the stage set up against the wall of the building, though -- they also entered and exited from behind the audience and utilized the brick and stone walkways around the audience.
Added visual effect came at scene changes when banners were sometimes unfurled from second floor windows or wreaths were hung from the trellises. During the masked ball scene, large decorative masks on poles were placed at the sides of the stage.
Edwin Rossi (junior-business management) said despite the cold, the actors really seemed to keep their focus.
"They didn't even look cold," Miles said.
Miles added that the cold wasn't much of a problem for her and her friends.
"We came prepared," she said, gesturing to the many layers of clothing and blankets the group had. "We were told to dress warm."
Miles and Rossi said they came because of a requirement in their Theatre 102 class. Their instructor, Nakeisha Daniel, was Lady Capulet in the show.
"She always sees us act," Rossi said. "Now we finally get to see her act."
Kimble said he thought the show was amazing and hopes more students take time to see it.
"How can you miss something so beautiful that is right in front of your eyes?" he said.
