Second Draft

Olivia Cao

Ms. Guarino

IB Literature and Performance SL

12 November 2015

Have you ever thought that someday one of the most classic tragedy become a modern comedy? Or have you thought about a different way for Juliet to say:"Romeo, Romeo, wherefore thee art Romeo?" 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). Unlike most of the tragedy versions of Romeo and Juliet, our scene showed the sarcastic side of their love and extreme immaturity of Romeo from a modern perspective; to achieve the goals, we staged the scene in modern times, designed a more personality for Juliet, and used contrasting and exaggerated music.

If we looked this tragedy through a modern person’s eyes, we would see this love story was so ridiculous that it would never happen . 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. We exaggerated the characteristics to show that their love was not pure and real. In summary, from a modern perspective, this story was not logical, and it would never happen in real life. 

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 personalities. 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 a 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. 

To adopt a classic romantic tragedy to a modern comedy, we had to change the settings and the characteristics of Juliet. Firstly, we changed the stage from Middle Ages to modern time. For example, when Romeo and Juliet first met, they met in a club, instead of in a party. Also, the actors wore modern clothes, instead of Middle ages costumes. Secondly, we added funny plots as many as possible. For instance, in the original version, nobody could see each other's faces clearly in the party, and this was romantic. However, in the club, they could not hear each other, and this change made the scene so hilarious. Also, in the balcony scene, Romeo climbed on the balcony, which was so funny. He looked around while he was climbing exaggeratedly, and he was not good-looking at all. Thirdly, we also changed Juliet’s personality; Juliet became more sociable and flighty. In the first scene, Juliet and Romeo were in a club. Both of them were dancing exaggeratedly. Romeo was attracted by Juliet’s beauty, and he went to Juliet and flirted with her. If you were watching a normal version, Juliet must act shy, however, in our comedy, Juliet just flirted back. Juliet was always in clubs; she knew this badly. This setting was a huge difference from the original version. Consequently, these huge changes on stage and characters actually made the play more funny and unique.

Music also played an important role in our scene. It reminded the audience the settings, and we also changed the relaxing and the intense music to show the atmosphere and the contrasts. First of all, we used music to show our settings. For instance, our first scene was staged in a loud club. However we could not really go to a club, and we could barely change the stage in the theatre. If we only danced on the stage, the audience must feel bored and confused. Then we came up an idea that we used a loud club song to show our settings. It worked well, with the actors’ exaggerated dancing, some people under the stage even shook their heads. Secondly, the change of the songs was an important highlight in our scene. In the fighting scene, when Tybalt and Mercutio were quarreling, the music was so intense. However, when Romeo came, exactly when he started his “speech”, the music suddenly was changed to a extremely relaxing music. Moreover, the music was well-known; it was one of the songs in Sponge Bob, the cartoon. This song emphasized how funny Romeo was; Tybalt and Mercutio almost acted they almost fell asleep. Then, when Romeo finished his long “speech”, the intense music was suddenly changed back. This actually woke Tybalt and Mercutio up, and they got ready to fight immediately. Also, when Tybalt stabbed Mercutio, the music became relaxing again. With the hilarious music, almost everyone laughed. In short, music did not only show people the settings, but also made our scene funnier, especially the change between intense and relaxing music. 

In conclusion, to show exactly their feelings to the audience is one of the most important task for directors. I thought it was ridiculous and sarcastic when I read the story of Romeo and Juliet, and I want to show my idea to more people. I tried to break the tragedy and adopt it to a comedy. In our scene, our group showed the sarcastic side of the story and the immaturity of Romeo. To adopt a successful comedy, a good stage was necessary. To show a modern perspective, we staged the scene in modern time; to show a contrast between Romeo and Juliet, we designed a new rebel characteristic for Juliet. Also, music was a big part in the scene. It was used to show the settings, and we also showed the funny side of the fighting scene by using the contrasting music. This comedy version was not only funny, it also showed a unique sarcastic perspective of Romeo and Juliet.