Act 3 Scene 2

Link: https://youtu.be/yCPyn40XPR8
Group: Olivia, Lucie

Be A Real Director

People always say that you can never predict the future. I was so worried about the performance part for this class, but now it seems like I worried too much. Performances is actually an interesting thing. I learned much about performances these days, especially staging. For a good scene, you should not only focus on having excellent actors who perform on the stage, but also have to design the stage and edit the scripts appropriately off the stage. I think it is easier to set the stage, however, I can hardly edit the scripts well. 

First of all, in my opinion, plays is all about pleasing the audience, so when directors stage the scene, they should consider the people who sit in the auditorium. This is the first thing and the most important thing I learned; luckily, I think it is kind of easy to do. When we set the stage, we have to make sure everybody can see. Thus, the stage has to face to the audience, and actors also have to face to people while they are performing. This is actually not so hard for me to achieve, but I have to pay much attention on it. I have to think about which angle is the best angle for the audience to see or which equipments are good for people to understand the scene. For example, when we staged the act 3 scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet, we set the couch diagonally, so it would be better for the audience to see Lucie( Juliet) was propping up in bed. Also, we used a black stick to substitute the real cord, but unfortunately, I did not find it while I was performing. Consequently, when we stage the scene, it is important to consider the people who sit there, so we have to make sure people can fully see and get the scene. 

Secondly, if you want to direct a good scene, indeed well-cut scripts are necessary, but this is the most difficult part for me. I think scripts is one of the most important parts of staging; the stage actually depends on scripts. A good scene should not be too lengthy, so the directors need to edit or delete some lines. Last week, Lucie and I chose Act 3 scene 2 to perform. I thought a conversation scene would be easier for me to stage and perform, but actually it was so hard to edit the scripts. In the book, this scene has one hundred and fifty-seven lines, and we should cut them to a five-minute-scene. This really stumped us, because we thought every line was so important and emotional. In Lucie’s words:“These lines are so cute!” As a result, after we deleted the lines twice, the scene was still too long. In summary, it is so important to have an appropriate script for a good scene, however I lacked of this part. 

In conclusion, I learned many things in this class, and I know I have a lot more to study. It is hard to stage a good scene, because directors have to consider everything. From editing scripts off the stage to performing on the stage, audience is always the most important thing, and it is not easy to do well. After the critique, I think I can do better next time. 

Magic play!

In this whole play, the most impressive scene is that Romeo comes to find Friar Lawrence and asks him to help him marry Juliet. I can clearly imagine how this scene works in Cheshire Academy. 

First of all, if I am the director, I will let Mr. Cirmo be Friar Lawrence, let a outgoing (crazy) person be Romeo. I would like to set this scene in chemistry classroom. When Romeo comes in, Mr. Cirmo is doing a experiment. He is wearing a pair of big goggles, and he is saying something about science or nature. He may say: "Everything in this world has two sides, and it depends on how people do it. Chlorine is a good thing that it can be combined with many other chemicals to produce some useful products, like salt. However, if you smell the chlorine gas directly, it will hurt your lungs and lead you to death. " Then Romeo interrupts, and Romeo will say something about his love. When Romeo says that he already forgets Rosaline, Mr. Cirmo should smile and say something nice, such as "that's my boy". Then, when Romeo tells Mr. Cirmo about his new love and he can even die for Juliet, Mr. Cirmo will drop the beaker which contains sulfuric acid. The acid spills on the floor. Because sulfuric acid is corrosive, the color of floor fades. ( if this cannot happen, I will just play some "zizi" sounds) Both Romeo and Mr. Cirmo are shocked. Then Mr. Cirmo warns Romeo that:"like this dangerous concentrated acid, extreme love will not give you happiness". However, love blinds Romeo's eyes, he cannot take the advice. Because this marriage may build a peaceful relationship between Capulets and Montagues, he finally agrees to help Romeo. 

In this scene, emotions are extremely important. When Romeo first comes in, he should be happy but nervous. Then when Friar Lawrence drops the beaker, he should act shocked. Also, when Friar Lawrence agrees to help him, he should act extremely happy. He can jump and hug Friar Lawrence to express his happiness. I want Romeo to have many body languages; he can make his walking style quite different, like dancing. In addition, I also want Mr. Cirmo to act rational, because in the book, Friar Lawrence is a special priest. He believes in science, and he encourages people to control their lives by themselves. In this version, Friar Lawrence is still a priest, but he has a part-time job in Cheshire Academy, which is to be a chemistry teacher, so Mr. Cirmo always encourages his students to choose what they like to do by themselves, not listen to their parents much. In summary, even though time periods and the identities of characters change, the emotions and characteristics will not change, so it is important to express the right emotions. 

This is my play! 

Death

First of all, there is one thing that needs to be clarified; Juliet and Romeo is married. In ancient time, women could hardly get divorced, especially in rich families, like Capulets and Montagues. Also, women could hardly find a job, so their husbands meant everything for them. It is so cruel that Juliet could not see her "everything" again. Moreover, Juliet is in love with Romeo; she cannot even stand not seeing him for a day. Juliet says:"That 'banished', that one word 'banished', hath slain ten thousand Tybalts. " Indeed, Juliet loves Romeo. Now Romeo is banished, she may not have a chance to see him again. This makes Juliet feel extremely sorrowful. In addition, for Capulets, the name, Romeo only means a cruel killer who kills their lovely relative, Tybalt. Therefore, even though Romeo is not banished, Capulets still can not accept him. These things actually makes Juliet feel hopeless. Even if Romeo does not die, they cannot see each other again, and her family will never accept him. For Juliet, there is no difference between being banished and death. Death is even easier for her, because she will not be tortured like this. Secondly, the word, "death" also foreshadows the sad ending, which is Juliet and Romeo both die. In the end, Juliet and Romeo die together.  

Poem

Darkness and moon come together at night, 

Midnight and death are peaceful as usual.  

Anger's chain reaction

In my opinion, anger is one of the most powerful emotions, because it is hard to control. Emotions always drive people to do some crazy things, especially anger. For example, a man thought his wife cheated on him, and he was so angry. Then, he beat his wife badly. His wife got paralysis, and he also went to the jail. Wife's parents only had this only daughter, and they were so angry. They hired a killer to kill the husband. In result, a family fell apart. One died; one paralyzed; two went to the jail. When the father was interviewed, he said he regretted to do this, however, regret could not change anything. This is a chain reaction, anger allowed the husband to beat his wife, and then the wife's parents killed the husband. They gained nothing from this serie of crimes, except regrets, illness and death.

Smart Changes Are the Best

“If thou wilt not, be my love, And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.” (Page 2201) Romeo and Juliet was one of the most famous tragedies of Shakespeare; it showed the purest love between a young couple. The nearest movie version was directed by Carlo Carlei in 2013.(IMDb) The director kept part of the original scripts, but most of the dialogues were modern language. Also, they set the scenes in late Middle Ages in Verona. I like this adaption, because I think the director adapted the scripts, characters and scenes wisely. 

This version gave me an extremely deep impression, because it kept most of the Shakespeare’s original contents, but they were not all the same. First of all, the director modernized most of the dialogues, nevertheless, he also kept the poetic parts. For instance, almost every normal dialogue was modern language, such as “Good morning” or “Good night”. However, they kept the most significant parts. In the movie, they still used “thee”, “thou” and some other words instead of modernizing them all. Also, they did not change the most poetic dialogues, such as the sentences they said in the garden. I like this kind of partial changes, because they would not be so difficult to understand, but they also showed the essential parts of this famous story. Secondly, in this version, the castings were closer to the reality. For example, Juliet was a little bit fat in the movie. Some people think this Juliet is not as beautiful as other versions’. However, as far as I am concerned, this Juliet was the most realistic Juliet. According to the book, Juliet was a sixteen-year-old girl, so she should be at puberty. When girls are at puberty, they are always fatter than usual. Thus, this Juliet was more logical, and I like this logical setting. Thirdly, the director changed and added scenes wisely, and this made the movie more logical and interesting. For example, at the beginning of the movie, Mercutio was competing with Tybalt, and Mercutio won. Then, the two servants fought for the result of this competition. Instead of fighting for nothing, the competition made this scene more logical. Also, because this movie was filmed in 2013, the technology was much better than before. Therefore, in this version, the settings were extremely fancy. For instance, the house of Capulets was big and luxurious. Also, when Tybalt and Mercutio fought, the dust was floating, which was impressive. The director used advanced technology in the film, and this allowed the movie to be more interesting and enjoyable. Consequently, the partial change of the scripts, realistic actors and the fancy scenes of this version made the movie so distinguishable from others, and it impressed me. 

In conclusion, the team tried their best to make this 2013 version different but brilliant. This movie showed how poetic Shakespeare’s words were, and partial change made it easier to understand. Everything was logical but fancy in this movie, such as realistic actors, revised scenes and beautiful settings. There were numerous versions of Romeo and Juliet, but in my opinion, the 2013 version was the best. 

Citation: 

1. Shakespeare, William (2014-10-15). Romeo and Juliet (Folger Shakespeare Library) (Kindle Locations 2207-2208). Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition. 
2. "Romeo & Juliet (2013)." IMDb.com. IMDb, n.d. Web. 4 Oct. 2015.
3. Picture: Romeo and Juliet 2013. 2013. Fanpop.com. Fanpop.com. Web. 4 Oct. 2015. <http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/35800000/Romeo-and-Juliet-2013-romeo-and-juliet-2013-35804022-3000-2000.jpg>.