During the English Renaissance, William Shakespeare, wrote plays within three distinct genres: tragedy, comedy, and history. While his historical plays occasionally borrow dramatic elements from his tragedies, Shakespeare set a clear division between the lighthearted ambiance found in A Midsummer Night's Dream and the heart wrenching despair that pervades Hamlet. However, Folger Theatre has cleared this divide with fervor. Romeo & Juliet, a play that was once the epitome of tragic theatre, is no longer pigeonholed to the tight confines of tragedy in regards to mood and tone. While the original dialogue and themes are unchanged, and the show is still classically categorized as a tragedy, the first act of Folger’s adaptation plays out like a comedy, with lively characterizations not typically recognized in the original text. Then, the second act reverts to the highly anticipated misery, starkly reminding audiences that the show is, indeed, a tragedy. This sharp, sudden transformation of tone has earned the production the title of “dramedy.” Romeo & Juliet successfully brews an atmosphere where laughter and sorrow can coexist, an environment that the Bard could not have anticipated.
The plot of Shakespeare’s original play remains untouched in Folger’s adaptation; Romeo & Juliet is still a story of star-crossed lovers, whose secret romance defies the heinous conflict that plagues their respective families and ultimately ends with the couple’s demise. But while the plot itself is unchanged, the speed at which the plot progresses is streamlined and accelerated. As scenic designer Megan Raham described, there is in the show a driving force that continuously advances the plot. This forward momentum is achieved by using multiple parts of...
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Folger Theatre’s Romeo & Juliet may run for “two hours traffic,” but its dynamic storytelling and alluring characters create the illusion of fast-paced action, especially in Act I, where the interplay of multiple scenes is most prominent. Some audience members may appreciate the contrast in tone between Act I and Act II and embrace it. Shakespearean purists may detest the comedic antics of Act I and the immaturity used to characterize the titular characters. Nevertheless, the production, inarguably, interprets Shakespeare’s play in an original context while maintaining the most important themes and plot events. Considering many adaptations of Romeo and Juliet simply reinforce archaic representations of the story or distort the underlying significance of the entire play, this production is one worth remembering.
3 Dec. 2013. Kerschen, Lios. A. A “Critical Essay on ‘Romeo and Juliet’. ” Drama for Students. Ed.
In 1596, William Shakespeare published the tragic tale of two star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet. The origins of this story are uncertain but Shakespeare’s chief source for his adoption of the story was from “…The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet, a poem by Arthur Brooke (1562). He also knew the story from Palace of Pleasure, by William Painter, which appeared in several editions prior to 1580.”(Boyce 563) Shakespeare’s classic tale is about “two young lovers caught in the crossfire of a senseless family feud.”(Shakespeare 3) This feud between the two families ultimately is the cause of the two lovers untimely demise. In 1996, Baz Luhrmann produced a modern film of the classic tragedy entitled William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet. Adding familiar images and common ideas, Luhrmann brought the classic story to modern times. Though Romeo + Juliet has many differences from the original version from Shakespeare, it supports the original characters, themes, dialogue, and key issues of the classic tale of the star-crossed lovers.
Shakespeare plays have fascinated audiences with their ability to seemingly portray the depth of the meanings and descriptions of each scene. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet was for many years the world’s best love story and influenced readers and writers from around the world. Understanding the contrasting natures is one of the most important themes in this play and underpins the plot. Love and hate, life and death, lastly, missions and reality will only increase every reader’s sense of curiosity.
It is fascinating how the most famous plays in history have the most tragic endings. They are not what we would imagine a normal fairy tale ending to be like. In the play, Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet are portrayed as star-crossed lovers. In the opening scene, the chorus states that Romeo and Juliet are two young lovers from opposing families who were destined to fall in love and eventually die together. Juliet’s parents have the perfect life planned for Juliet. She has the perfect fiancé, she was going to have a great family, and live happily until the day she died. But then it was love at first sight for Romeo and Juliet. They both know it was the wrong thing to do, but they went with it. Despite their best intentions to be together and to change their fate, the play proves that there destiny’s are predetermined.
Romeo and Juliet is a famous play that was first performed between 1594 and 1595, it was first printed in 1597. Romeo and Juliet is not entirely fictional as it is based on two lovers who lived in Verona. The Montague’s and Capulet’s are also real. Romeo and Juliet is one of the ten tragedies that William Shakespeare wrote. In this essay, I aim to investigate what act 1, scene1 makes you expect about the rest of the play.
The classic play Romeo and Juliet by the famous playwright William Shakespeare is one of the most beautiful love stories of all time and has captured and inspired readers everywhere. Regardless of the fact that it was written in the 1500’s, it is still being performed and extolled today. There is a multitude of reasons for such continuance of the play. First of all, its everlasting themes of love and hate enable people to deeply relate to the story. Secondly, its memorable characters deeply imprint on the minds of readers. And lastly, above all, is its magnificent language which many writers today regard in awe. These three elements make the acclaimed play, Romeo and Juliet, one of the most timeless stories of our lives.
Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet is a film that converts Shakespeare’s famous play into a present-day setting. The film transforms the original texts into modern notions, whilst still employing Shakespearean language. Compared to Franco Zeffirelli’s adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, Luhrmann’s picture is easier for a teenage audience to understand and relate to because of his modernisations. Despite the passing of four centuries Shakespeare’s themes of love, hate, violence, family and mortality remain the same regardless of the setting.
Baz Lurhmann’s creation of the film Romeo and Juliet has shown that today’s audience can still understand and appreciate William Shakespeare. Typically, when a modern audience think of Shakespeare, they immediately think it will be boring, yet Lurhmann successfully rejuvenates Romeo and Juliet. In his film production he uses a number of different cinematic techniques, costumes and a formidably enjoyable soundtrack; yet changes not one word from Shakespeare’s original play, thus making it appeal to a modern audience.
The prosperous and vibrant Elizabethan Age made England the heart of all commerce, culture, and most importantly, theatre. Romeo and Juliet, the masterpiece tragedy by William Shakespeare, takes place in this time period and relays the story of two young lovers whose ill-fated deaths eventually end an ancient family feud. The two, Romeo and Juliet, come from quarreling families who adamantly disapprove of their union. Thus, after knowing each other for only a few days, the star-crossed pair marries in secrecy and continues their furtive relationship. The situation complicates as the story progresses, with a previous love, arranged marriages, a perilous plan, and several deaths. Ultimately, Romeo and Juliet both fall to the consequences of their actions and have a pain-filled and sorrowful demise. Shakespeare’s use of various tactics in developing Romeo’s character in the play Romeo and Juliet shows that Romeo has an impulsive and emotional disposition. Romeo’s inner feelings, his actions and responses, and others’ opinions about him all help shape his character. William Shakespeare’s methods all combine to draw Romeo’s disposition.
What is so interesting about Shakespeare's first play, The Comedy of Errors, are the elements it shares with his last plays. The romances of his final period (Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, The Tempest) all borrowed from the romantic tradition, particularly the Plautine romances. So here, as in the later plays, we have reunions of lost children and parents, husbands and wives; we have adventures and wanderings, and the danger of death (which in this play is not as real to us as it is in the romances). Yet, for all these similarities, the plot of The Comedy of Errors is as simple as the plots of the later plays are complex. It is as though Shakespeare's odyssey through the human psyche in tragedy and comedy brought him back to his beginnings with a sharper sense of yearning, poignancy, and the feeling of loss. But to dismiss this play as merely a simplistic romp through a complicated set of maneuvers is to miss the pure theatrical feast it offers on the stage - the wit and humor of a master wordsmith, the improbability of a plot that sweeps...
Accidentally, incidentally, unintentionally, intentionally; no one ever really knows, but we are for certain one thing: “the heart isits own fate.” For Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, two star-crossed lovers in Shakespeare’s masterpiece play ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ this holds especially true. Romeo and Juliet’s “misadventure piteous overthrow” is fueled by their love for each other and their determination to be together, no matter what. Romeo and Juliet’s love with stands the hate surrounding them. Thus, fate is undoubtedly the most responsible influence for the two young lovers’ heartbreaking tragedy.
Goldman, Michael. "'Romeo and Juiliet': The Meaning of the Theatrical Experience." Shakespeare and the Energies of Drama. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP. 1972. 33-44. Rpt.
Shakespeare’s most popular play he ever created was easily Romeo and Juliet. None of his other plays were as popular (and Tragic) as “Romeo and Juliet”. “Romeo and Juliet” is a romantic Tragedy set in the city of Verona, Italy. “Romeo and Juliet” is classified as Shakespeare’s greatest Tragedy influenced play he ever wrote. A Shakespearean Tragedy is a type of drama or play written by Shakespeare where the heightened climax always ends with a Catastrophic Ending. All Shakespeare and they always share the same common features. These features include: The fatal Flaw of the main character, usually leading to the ultimate downfall of him or her, and the external pressures that surround him, which include Fate,
Elizabethan times in the 1600s was a progression for the world of the theater. A period named after Queen Elizabeth I of England, it is from this period that modern day society has its foundation for the entertainment industry. From the violence that was prevalent because of the Black Death, people turned to the theater for its poetry and romance. During this time period, there were two types of theatrical performances that were available for the people’s viewing, comedies or tragedies. These two genres were never really intertwined until the time of William Shakespeare. His play, Romeo and Juliet, is an example of both a comedy and a tragedy. It starts off as a comedy with Romeo weeping like a baby because of his love Rosaline, who did not love him back and ends as a tragedy when Romeo and Juliet, a pair of star crossed lovers, commit suicide because the lost of each other. It was also during Shakespeare’s time that writer were finally acknowledged by the people. Before this time, writers were not considered upper classman. Another group of people that began to rise into a higher social class were the actors. Actresses were not present back then because women were not allowed on stage. It was considered unladylike to have a female actor. Men played all the parts. Theater owners were dependent on actors to make them a profit. Rehearsals for the plays were fairly short, only lasting for about a week. The performances themselves would only show for three to four days.
Although Luhrmann’s loyalty to the original story may be questioned, his film has proven to be entertaining and successful. The film has outpaced the other adaptations of Romeo and Juliet and other Shakespearean plays as can be seen from the approximately 30 million dollars that it made through tickets and box office sales. Just as there are avid followers of the original tale by Shakespeare, Luhrmann’s version has a big fan base which, since its release 1996, has seen the film reach cult status and it can be said that Luhrmann has modernized Romeo and Juliet just as it can be said that he has ruined a brilliant masterpiece that was fine the way it was.