First Draft

Sarcastic Comedy

Outline: 

• Thesis: A love story can be sarcastic; a prince can be a coward; a comedy can also be meaningful. 
• Introduction
• It is an unrealistic and sarcastic story; how to show this in our performance. 
• Romeo’s immaturity; how to show this in our play. 
• Explain how we made the scene funny. Give details. 
• Expand the importance of music
• Conclusion

When people mention Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet always comes into mind immediately. Romeo and Juliet was written in the early career of Shakespeare, but it is one of the most well-known tragedy in the world. When people think of Romeo and Juliet, they always feel mournful about the pitiful and romantic story. However, Romance is not the only identity of Romeo and Juliet; in modern people’s eyes, this story is more unrealistic. To show an unique side of this classic play, we directed a comedy version of Romeo and Juliet. We picked three significant scenes: Act 1 scene 5(the scene that they first meet); Act 2 scene 2(the balcony scene, which is the most romantic scene); Act 3 scene 1(the fighting scene, which is a big turning point). We used A love story can be sarcastic; a prince can be a coward; a comedy can be meaningful; simple music can also play an important role. 

To fully show how unrealistic the story is in modern people’s eyes, a modern setting and funny plots are necessary. The whole scene was set in modern time, instead of middle ages. In the first scene, Romeo and Juliet met in a loud club. Logically, no one looks for his true love in a club, but Romeo did. Also, it was almost impossible to fall in love with someone in such a short time. In the scene, Romeo and Juliet were no longer shy and naive; both of them enjoyed the party. Romeo was attracted by Juliet’s beauty, and he came to flirt with her. Juliet acted frivolous and flirted back. Due to we could not change the lines, the actors had to act the emotions. For example, Juliet acted frivolous when she said:“Saints do not move”, and after Romeo kissed Juliet, he just winked at his friends, like exactly what jerks did. Thus, since they first met, it was a mistake. Moreover, in the balcony scene, Romeo went to Capulets’ house to find Juliet. When Juliet told him the place was dangerous and people would kill him, he said that: “The kinsmen no stop to me!” However, when nurse called Juliet, Romeo was extremely terrified. He hid under the table and put his hands over his ears. His love was so changeable, he did not love Juliet that much. The different characteristics of Romeo and Juliet actually satirized the story; their love was not pure and real. In summary, from a modern perspective, this story was not logical, and it would never happen. 

Secondly, this play also showed Romeo’s immature personalities and behaviors. No matter in the original version or our adapted version, Romeo was always immature, but in this comedy version, we emphasized his immaturity. Also, there was a contrast of Romeo and Juliet. In the first scene, Romeo and Juliet both played with each other. In another word, they were the same kind of people. However, in the second scene, Juliet changed; she started to be mature after she fell in love with Romeo. Juliet acted more normal in the balcony scene, but Romeo just remained the same. For instance, when Juliet was complaining Romeo’s family name and how hard their love was, Romeo was so hotheaded that he said: “I take thy word! I never will be Romeo. ” Romeo denied his name without even one-second-thinking, and he climbed on the balcony immediately. Love was the only thing in Romeo’s eyes, and he could easily abandon his family. Also, the actor acted hyperbolically while he was speaking the lines and climbing, and this clearly showed Romeo’s immature personality. Moreover, in the last fighting scene, when Tybalt and Mercutio were about fight, Romeo came, which was extremely bad time. Then, Romeo tried to convince Mercutio and Tybalt to drop their weapons, however he did not help at all. The irony plot was when Romeo started his long “lecture style speech”, Tybalt and Mercutio almost fell asleep. Then, when Tybalt and Mercutio were fighting, he did not help, but yelled at them. This series of actions showed that Romeo was still a naive teenager, he did not know how to handle his life or deal with troubles. In addition, Mercutio also reflected Romeo’s characteristics. People always say that friends are like mirrors; you can see yourself through them. Before the fight, Mercutio acted brave; he even described Tybalt as a “ratcatcher”. However, when he was stabbed, he cried, and he blamed on Romeo. This was exactly what Romeo did in the balcony scene. What he said and what he finally did were totally different. From Romeo’s friend, Mercutio, the audience was able to see how immature Romeo was. Consequently, Romeo’s sarcastic side was what we wanted to show the audience, and we achieved this goal successfully.