THEA 101 Final Project Version #2: Romeo and Juliet

1. Directional Vision Statement

Romeo and Juliet is a popular tragedy written by William Shakespeare in his early career.

The tale of Romeo and Juliet is a classic that has been remade throughout the years. There are

many modern day versions of Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare is a well-known playwright who has

written other plays such as Julius Caesar and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Shakespeare is

considered the greatest English-speaking writer in history and many of his works have been

turned into a major theatrical works and films.

I picked Romeo and Juliet as my particular piece that I would like to produce for several

reasons. First, the story is one of the most popular tragedies written by the one of the greatest

writers in history, William Shakespeare. The story is about two young star-crossed lovers whose

deaths eventually harmonize their feuding families.

The concept of fate is probably one of the most intriguing parts of the play to me. Romeo

and Juliet are addressed as “star-crossed” lovers, meaning that they are fated to be together for

the rest of their lives. The continuous feud between the two families the Capulets and the

Montagues indicates trouble and death are inevitable in this tragedy. Numerous amount of the

supporting characters such as Mercutio, Paris, and Tybalt all die along with Romeo and Juliet.

My favorite part of this play is the ending, which I think makes this one of the most

outstanding tragedies ever written. The story ends with Juliet faking her own death thinking that

she can reunite with Romeo again. However, Romeo actually believed that Juliet was really dead.

He is devastated by the news so he buys poison, and goes to the tomb to see Juliet one last time.

Romeo drinks to poison, and then Juliet wakes up to see her beloved one lying dead on the

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ground. She then grabs Romeo’s dagger and stabs herself, hence the “star-crossed lovers”

archetype where two lovers that are so deeply in love end up with a tragic ending. This tragedy

finally ends the feud between the Montague and Capulet families. This is the most crucial and

exciting part of the play so I think it will be fun to recreate the scene by adding my own twists to

the story. There are various ways I can go with this ending. I’m a sucker for a happy ending so I

may take it to the completely another end of the spectrum and conclude the play with a happy

ending. The happy ending could be something like where Juliet wakes up right before Romeo

takes the poison so they can both escape and live happily ever after.

One interesting fact that not many people know is that the story of Romeo and Juliet is

not written by Shakespeare entirely. Around 1562, an earlier version of this story was written by

an English poet named Arthur Brooke. He wrote a story called The Tragic History of Romeus and

Juliet, it considered to be Shakespeare’s chief source for his tragedy Romeo and Juliet. Countless

of the details in Romeo and Juliet are taken right out of Arthur Brooke’s story. Both stories include

the fight between Romeo and Tybalt, the secret marriage, Juliet’s sleeping potion and the

suicides by Romeo and Juliet. However, Shakespeare was able to expand the story into a drama

by adding more major characters and details.

I want to be able to recreate the entire story so that it can be performed on a single stage

live. Therefore, my vision for Romeo and Juliet is fairly straightforward. The story will take place

in Verona, Italy, and the setting will change multiple times from big ballrooms and fancy beautiful

mansions to tombs. To incorporate all aspects of the surroundings that Shakespeare intended

will be a challenge because the stage is probably not going to be big enough. As I mentioned

earlier, I really like happy endings so I may change the aspect of how dramatic and dark the story

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is. I’m fully aware that those characteristics are the ones that made the whole story so much

more dramatic and exciting. However, I believe that eliminating the suicides really makes this

play more child-friendly and may create a whole new atmosphere for the audience.

The most important feature of this production is going to be staging. Verona, an entire

city needs to be compressed into a small stage. It will be difficult because transitions between

sets need to be seamless. I’m envisioning a stage with a few main sets and some smaller ones for

some very specific scenes. The main set that will be used for when dialogue is exchanged or duels

occur will be in an open courtyard set. I picked a courtyard as the main stage because the

courtyard can be made to look super fancy and splendid. Of course, different features can be

added or removed as needed to change the mood and events that are happening. Since the

courtyard is an open space it would be easy to incorporate more actors and various moving parts,

such as sword fights. Also, the courtyard can be transformed into a set for when the Capulets

host feasts and dances. An example of a specific set would be the location where Romeo and

Juliet got married by Friar Laurence, Juliet’s bedroom where Romeo first meets her, and the tomb

where Juliet drinks the sleeping potion and they both commit suicide.

The most challenging set to produce will be the streets of Verona, where the story first

unfolds. This is going to challenging because it will be hard to replicate the depth of a street. This

set will have many moving parts and lots of people since streets are usually crowded, especially

during the day. The moving parts will be a challenge for the stage crew as they try hard to make

the transitions smooth.

Moving on to props, it is important that I select the appropriate props to set the right

mood. The props that I selected for the stage will have a huge impact on setting up the story.

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First, I plan on having the streets of Verona to look similar to a busy marketplace where people

are pushing wheelbarrows and traders are eager to sell their goods and products. There will be

lots of flowers and plants in the courtyard so that it looks fancy. There will be lots of pots filled

with colorful flowers and beautiful plants. I want to have a small fake water fountain surrounded

by tables where people socialize while drinking a cup of tea. Props for scenes like the feast will

incorporate items like plates, cutlery sets, table and chairs. I imagine Juliet’s tomb in a dark place

with a few torches in the background to give a little bit light. The tomb will be made out of heavy

stones with some dark finish wood pieces and engraved beautifully. There will be a stone table

in the middle where Juliet rests peacefully.

As it is with most productions, costumes will play a huge role in this play. All the main

characters and everyone who is associated with either the Montague and the Capulet families to

wear luxurious and finer clothing than all of the other characters. It’s crucial for them to show

their importance. I’m imagining the head of the families to wear something royal like to express

their power. Juliet will be wearing dresses that are mostly white, simple and plain to show her

innocence and purity. Obviously, these dresses will not be revealing because it would have to

look fitting for a young teenage girl. Romeo’s outfit will be very noble, yet still very young to fit

his age as well. His outfit will be red to foreshadow all the bloodshed that he will be involved in

throughout the play.

Lighting will be another important role in this production. Just like Romeo’s outfit, I want

to the lighting to foreshadow the events that are about to happen to set the mood. For example,

during a scene where a death occurs, I want the light to dim a little bit more so that the set is

darker than it usually is. The scene where Juliet fakes her death will have very little light as well.

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Happy events such as the scene at the ball where Romeo first meets Juliet, and the feast and

dance that the Capulets host will have lots of bright lights. Also, there will be many torches since

these are some of the happiest times that will occur in the play.

To create scenes as life-like as possible, many applications of different sounds will have

to be implemented. For example, scenes like the streets of Verona will need a lot of background

noises such as people laughing and chatting to make the events seem more genuine. Intense and

dramatic music will be played during the sword fight scenes to make it more dramatic so that the

people in the audience are more invested in the fight. And of course, dramatic music should be

played during all the death scenes to set the mood.

Finally, actor selection is the most crucial part of this production because it is so important

to have a strong cast that will portray the main characters to its full potential. The actor for

Romeo will have to be someone who is young and rather emotional. The actor for Juliet will have

to have a “baby face” to appear young and innocent. She will need to be capable enough to

display true emotion and love toward the actor of Romeo. Overall, the actors for both Romeo

and Juliet will need to be able to show on screen chemistry. The actors that portray the family

heads of the Montagues and the Capulets will have to be able to resemble royalty since they are

very powerful.

All of these aspects needs to come together in order to make Romeo and Juliet an

excellent production. The lights and the sound have to be perfect to help the audience feel like

that they are actually there. The sets will have to look realistic with smooth transitions between

sets. Last but not least, it important to take the time when it comes to selecting the right actors

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to ensure that they look natural on stage. This remake of Romeo and Juliet will be successful if

all of these aspects are met.

2. Root Conflict Statement

Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet are star-crossed lovers. The story starts off with a fight

between a Montague and Capulet in the streets of Verona. It showed that the Montagues and

the Capulets have had a long-established rivalry.

Romeo is introduced as a boy who is dealing with the grief of being in love with a girl named

Rosalie, a noble girl who didn’t love him. Benvolio (Romeo’s friend) encourages him to search for

someone else. And they agreed to go to a dance that was being held by the Montagues.

Paris is introduced as a nobleman who wants to marry the daughter of Capulet and Lady

Capulet, Juliet. Although the father is delighted about the match, he tells him to wait a few years.

However, Paris insists that he introduce himself to Juliet at the dance.

At the dance, Romeo spots Juliet from a far distance and falls in love with her immediately.

Tybalt, a Montague, recognizes Romeo but he was able to stay as he agrees to keep the peace.

Romeo approached Juliet and touched her hand. He wishes to kiss Juliet as she remains still. Just

as their kiss ends, Juliet is taken away by a nurse because her mother needed to speak with her.

Romeo is devastated to find out that her mother is the Lady Capulet from the nurse. However,

he stays at the party and goes outside Juliet’s balcony and they exchange words of love.

Romeo asks Friar Laurence if he would be willing to marry him and Juliet. Friar was in shock

because only days before, Romeo was in love with Rosalie. Nevertheless, Friar agrees and marry

Romeo and Juliet hoping to stop the feud between the Capulets and the Montagues. Tybalt

confronts Romeo and asks to have a duel. Mercutio, Romeo’s friend decides to take the duel but

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he gets killed by Tybalt. Filled with fumes, Romeo kills Tybalt and gets banished from Verona.

Romeo and Juliet have sex before Romeo is banished. Friar and Juliet come up with a plan for

Juliet to fake her own death so she can escape with Romeo. However, Romeo did not get the

letter that the messenger was supposed to give him so Romeo buys poison to commit suicide.

When he entered Juliet’s tomb, he sees Paris. They fight ends with Romeo killing Paris. He then

drinks the poison and peacefully dies next to Juliet. When Juliet wakes up to Romeo’s death, she

no longer wanted to live without him. Juliet then stabs herself with Romeo’s knife and kills

herself. The Montagues and the Capulets finally stop the feud.

3. Design Elements

Set: The three main sets are the streets of Verona, Juliet’s tomb and the Capulet’s courtyard.

The streets of Verona will look similar to this:

Juliet’s tomb will look similar to this:

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The Capulet’s courtyard will look similar to this:

Costumes and Make-up:

Juliet’s dress will be white to match her innocence. Romeo kills multiple people throughout the

play so his costume will be red to represent the bloodshed. The Montagues and the Capulets

will both look majestic.

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Juliet’s dress:

Romeo’s outfit:

The Capulets/Montagues:

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Lights:

I want the audience to feel like that they’re actually there back in the 1300s so I will be using

many torches throughout the play. I want the audience to have a very “old-time” feel.

Sound:

I’m going to be using voices of real people talking and laughing for the background noises in

most of the scenes. Dramatic music will be playing during a scene with fights and deaths.

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Props:

Many different props will be used for different scenes such as swords, plates, cutlery and home

furniture.

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4. Floor Plan: This is the courtyard where most of the scenes will take place

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 5. Program Note

In 1595, an English poet named William Shakespeare recreated the story of The Tragical

History of Romeus and Juliet that was written by Arthur Brooke into what is known today called

Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare is one of the most famous writers in history. His other famous

works include Macbeth and Hamlet.

The story of Romeo and Juliet is about a two star-crossed lovers but can’t be together

because of their family feud. In the beginning, Romeo was a boy who was struggling to find love

but he instantly falls in love with Juliet when he first sees her at the Capulet’s dance. Romeo

and Juliet is a classic example of failed love due to societal differences.

The production was recreated because it is a classic and many people love it. Attentive

consideration was very important in every aspect of this production so that this play continues

to meet high expectations of Shakespeare plays. William Shakespeare is one of the best

playwrights in history and many of his pieces are turned into a theatre production. I hope you

enjoy my production of Romeo and Juliet.

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