Project 6: Play Proposal

For the 2010/2011 season at Sam Houston State Theatre, I propose Shakespeare’s classic romance, Romeo and Juliet. I believe this beloved tale of the star crossed lovers would draw and audience, as well as offer an array of roles to our students. Romeo and Juliet, for anyone who has never stepped outside of their house before, is about forbidden romance that occurs between two youths from feuding households : the Montagues and the Capulets. Romeo, who is a Montague, falls instantly in love with Juliet, a Capulet, and woos her in the famous “Balcony Scene”. The two lovers are immediately married, but on the same day as their secret wedding (performed with the help of Juliet’s comical Nurse and the kind Friar Lawrence) there is a huge brawl between Romeo’s best friend, Mercutio, and Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt. When Romeo watches Tybalt kill Mercutio, he kills Tylbalt in a rage, causing his immediate banishment. As Romeo is banished, Juliet is told she must marry the man her parents have chosen : Paris. Juliet desperately goes to the Friar for aid, and he develops a plan. Romeo would leave, and in the mean time Juliet would take a special potion that would make her appear to be dead for two days. When her parents buried her, Romeo would be sent for to come and get her, and they could then run away together. Juliet does as the Friar says, but Romeo does not receive the news that it is a false death, but rather a friend reaches him first and tells her she has died. He buys poison from an apothecary, and sets off to Juliet’s burial site, which is being guarded by Paris. He kills Paris, goes to Juliet, and drinks the poison over her body. After he is dead, Juliet wakes to see Romeo’s body, and desperately stabs herself with his dagger. The play ends tragically with the death of the two lovers, but with the feuding families finally coming to end their petty disagreements.
Romeo and Juliet is one of the most famous and beloved works by one of the most famous and beloved playwrights in literary history- William Shakespeare. Shakespeare wrote 38 plays during the late 16th and early 17th centuries, many of which are still produced in theatres and taught in schools today. His story lines are considered classic, and the beauty of his language unrivaled. Romeo and Juliet is no exception. Romeo and Juliet was first published in 1597, and has since become one of his most frequently produced plays, and also inspired several adaptations. During the Restoration, the play was revised heavily and performed often by William Davenant. An operatic version in the same period offered audiences a happy ending. The Realistic movement in theatre in the 19th century brought a new, more emotionally honest approach to the famous words, and the 20th century brought us the musical adaptation “West Side Story”, Zeferelli’s famously faithful film, and the modern interpretation starring Leonardo DiCaprio “Romeo+Juliet”. Romeo and Juliet is written primarily as free verse poetry in iambic pentameter. The title characters are the quintessential examples of young lovers in theatre, and both the actors and audience must come to terms with and embrace the rapid insanity that is their fated romance.
I think that Sam Houston should produce this show because it is, firstly, a classic, and classics are important for both our students and our audiences. It is a piece that, unlike many other Shakespearean pieces, offers a level of variety and choice in terms of gender. Though there are only four female roles written into the show, roles such as Mercutio may be interpreted as females, and with very interesting results. People will come to see this show because they know it, and most love it for its beauty.

The way I envision this production being staged is to have The Globe stage (where so many Shakespearean works were first presented) recreated, or at least represented. This would require a two level set built, with three different places for entrances and exits on the bottom level. The set need not be an exact replica, but merely give the audience a sense that they are seeing Shakespeare being performed in a space similar to where it was first given its roots. This set will require a good amount of lumber, and lighting to represent the changing locations and time of day, since the set will remain the same throughout the show. I also envision this production having a period look, so the costumes will very likely have to be built.
I see this show as being sort of an ode to Shakespeare,therefore I would like to see most everything period appropriate, save one singular element: the music. Romeo and Juliet, as I stated before, is thought to be timeless, and there is no better way to emphasize this than by setting the show to a background of modern love songs. Young people love and feel passionately, which is proven over and over again by the songs they write and listen to. I believe that setting a period piece to modern music would honor the timeless theme of young love, and provide a contrast with the period look of the show in a way that would intrigue audiences.