Romeo, played by Zama Middle-High School senior Justin Iriarte, laments the death of Juliet, played by fellow Zama senior Mia Perusich, during the one-act play "Romeo and Juliet: Six Very Busy Days," at the Far East Drama Festival on Camp Humphreys, South Korea, Feb. 9, 2023. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea – Justin Iriarte is a novice when it comes to acting, but says he is very familiar with “Romeo and Juliet,” Shakespeare’s tale of star-crossed lovers.
However, the senior said he hesitated to try out for the role of Romeo Montague with Zama Middle-High School’s team at the Far East Drama Festival staged last week at Humphreys High School by Department of Defense Education Activity Pacific.
“But this will be more comedic,” Zama theater director John Binns told Iriarte. He was referring to playwright Robert Wing’s one-act version of the story, “Romeo and Juliet: Six Very Busy Days.”
Very loosely inspired by Shakespeare, Binns said, according to Iriarte.
“When he said that, I told myself I had to see this one through,” the student recalled. “I saw the potential for it to be really funny.”
He was right, if the reaction of the audience in the Humphreys High auditorium Thursday, the last day of the drama festival, was an indicator.
Romeo, portrayed by Zama Middle-High School's Justin Iriarte, and Corban Olson play out the scene of Mercutio's death, during their performance of the one-act play "Romeo and Juliet: Six Very Busy Days," during the Far East Drama Festival at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, Feb. 9, 2023. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
The festival, which DODEA-Pacific has sponsored since the mid-1980s, returned for its first in-person incarnation on Monday, after it was canceled in 2020 and done virtually the past two years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Zama’s eight actors elicited repeated bursts of laughter from 77 students from eight DODEA-Pacific schools taking part in the festival. Plenty of slapstick, double-entendre and ad-libs were featured in the 20-minute, one-act play.
“I knew it would be a good time,” Iriarte said.
He played Romeo opposite fellow senior Mia Perusich’s Juliet Capulet. Perusich has performed in musicals and plays throughout high school and “lives for the theatrics,” she said.
“We wanted to bring something fresh to the table; we wanted to have fun with this,” she said. “This one was just perfect.”
Zama’s group was one of four to receive an award of excellence for a one-act play from the festival judges. The highest honors for one-acts went to Kubasaki High School at Camp Foster on Okinawa and Nile C. Kinnick at Yokosuka Naval Base south of Tokyo.
The festival took place over four days at Humphreys, and participants also included Kadena High School at Kadena Air Base on Okinawa; Robert D. Edgren High School at Misawa Air Base; and Matthew C. Perry at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni; all in Japan.
Cameron McMillan, a junior at Humphreys High School, performs a song from the musical "In The Heights," during the Far East Drama Festival at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, Feb. 9, 2023. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Judging was done by Humphreys educator Jodi Davis and Rod Menzies, a Los Angeles-based actor, director and acting coach.
In addition to making their group and individual acting and singing presentations, the students were treated to a performance of the musical “Cats” in Seoul on Wednesday.
Nathan McCoy, the event’s director for the past eight years, says while students and teams were competing for awards, the friendships the student-thespians developed during the week played larger roles.
“They all know what it’s like to be on stage, all eyes on you,” he said. “The camaraderie and the bonds they form, how supportive they are of one another. Everybody’s looking to improve their craft and share their talents. It’s cool to see what they can do up there.”
