MacGregor Collegiate Institute (MCI) students took to the stage this week for a showing of Romeo and Juliet, with a side of green eggs and ham. Well, kind of.

Students are depicting the Shakespeare story, Romeo and Juliet, but with a Doctor Seuss mashup. PortageOnline caught up with a few cast members before the play's first showing on Wednesday.

"It is a silly play," says Tanya Polasek, the director of the play. "It's written in rhyming couplets, so every other line rhymes."

Polasek explains that confidence was high after a dress rehearsal Tuesday for Austin and McGregor Elementary students.

"They laughed at all of the funny parts, and they were genuine laughs." she continues. "The cast and crew have been a delight. We've asked them to do a lot, wearing colourful tights and ridiculous bloomers, and they've been a great cast to work with."

file photoTanya Polasek,Rayleen Wieler, Rory Manns & Brooklyn Gross.

A Grade 11 student, Brooklyn Gross, plays Lady Capitulate and Tybalt. She says that the cast was well prepared.

"We are putting a lot into the set pieces, and all the costumes are very different than previous years," explains Gross. "It's really fun. I feel it's such a creative thing you have, like this tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, and then you got Doctor Seuss, which is not a tragedy. It's this silly thing, and I think that's great."

Rory Manns, a Grade 11 student, is playing Romeo. He says it was his first year in the spring production, and he is proud to be following in the footsteps of his older sister.

"I am taking after her," he continues. "Taking the lead role has been stressful. I'm close with everyone on this cast now, and it feels like everyone has the same amount of pressure because no one wants to mess up."

Manns, an athlete who has had to sacrifice time on the baseball diamond to be in the play, told PortageOnline that the time away from athletics is well worth.

"It does have some corny jokes in it, and It's hard to get your line straight  with all the rhyming and stuff like that, especially with the most lines in the cast."

Rayleen Wieler, a Grade 11 student, has five roles: Abram, a servant, a nurse, a prince, and a monk. She says it's not as complicated as she thought it would be.

"It's kind of fun because you just get to be a bunch of different people. I get a lot more experience out of acting when I have all the different roles, so I think it's pretty fun. All the parts are rather small, but altogether it's a lot."

As a self-described introvert, Wieler notes getting on stage can be out of her comfort zone.

"Especially walking around the hallways and tights and bloomers. That's a little awkward, but it's probably helped my self-esteem because now I am more out there."

The cast performed two shows in front of countless family and friends this week, with the first showing on Wednesday and the final on Thursday.