When Juliet called Romeo’s name from the balcony, she received an unexpected surprise. Likewise, when the drama department attempted to put on the play “Romeo and Juliet” last spring, they didn’t get what they thought they would.

Namely, the play was postponed. Drama teacher Chris Evans said there were a few reasons for the delay. First, Evans said students’ grades were not sufficient as a cast. When he compared the cast’s grades to the standards the swim team has for its swimmers, Evans said half of the cast was not elligible to perform.

Second, the cast wasn’t respecting school rules, he said, pointing to incidents of skipping class.

And third, because the cast was so busy with springtime activities, Evans said they were tired and not learning their lines.

However, the past is the past, and Evans said he looks forward to this year with excitement.

“We’re gonna to have a good year,” Evans said. “We’ve taken our lumps, and we’ve learned our lessons and we’ve moved forward.”

A lot of changes occured within the drama department this past year that the actors, stagecraft students, and teacher have had to deal with.

One of the differences between this year and last year is that Evans is not taking on a seven-period load.

“We discovered that [having seven classes] was insane. It didn’t give me a chance to breathe,” he said.

Typically, teachers have only five classes, but Evans said that he had to take over the two Stagecraft classes after Tom Spencer retired. This year, there are two fewer classes due to the budget, but Evans said he still has a good set of students.

“There are people who are stepping up to take [past actors’] place[s] and are just as passionate and just as ready to rock this thing,” Evans said.

Even with the number of kids, Evans said that he has to “start looking at smaller cast shows.”

The reason is simple: people are busy and can’t always make rehearsal times. Evans is looking on the bright side of this by saying that he can now tailor his shows to talent instead of trying to fit a large number of actors into every show. Unfortunately, this change of events has prompted Evans to put off “Romeo and Juliet” for a longer period of time.

The first show Evans plans to test his theory with is called “The Foreigner,” which will be performed somtime around late November. He said he looks forward to the comedy and the opportunities available throughout the year. To help encourage his actors’ creativity, Evans has left the second semester open for ideas.

“Spring is still up in the air.”