classic repertory company STUDY GUIDE William Shakespeare s ROMEO AND JULIET Education Outreach Supporters Funded in part by generous individual contributors, the National Endowment for the Arts, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Foundation for MetroWest, Esther B. Kahn Foundation, Fuller Foundation, The Marshall Home Fund, Roy A. Hunt Foundation, and Watertown Community Foundation. This program is also supported in part by grants from the Brookline Commission for the Arts, Cambridge Arts Council, Greenfield Cultural Council, Marlborough Cultural Council, Plymouth Cultural Council, and Watertown Cultural Council, local agencies which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. Classic Repertory Company is produced in cooperation with Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Theatre new rep administrative office 200 dexter avenue watertown, ma 02472 artistic director jim petosa managing director harriet sheets the professional theatre company in residence at the arsenal center for the arts
A Timeline of Shakespeare s Life 1564 Born in Stratford-upon-Avon 1582 Marries Anne Hathaway 1585 Moves to London to pursue theatre career 1592 London closes theatres due to plague 1593 Starts to write sonnets 1594 Publishes first works of poetry 1594 Starts managing, as well as writing for, the Lord Chamberlain s Men 1596 Romeo and Juliet first performed 1599 Lord Chamberlain s Men begin performing at the newly built Globe Theater 1600 Writes Hamlet, one of his most well-known plays 1603 The Lord Chamberlain s Men is renamed the King s Men in honor of the new King James patronage 1604 Retires from acting 1613 The Globe Theatre burns down 1614 The Globe Theatre is rebuilt 1616 Dies and is buried at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-Upon-Avon adapted from http://absoluteshakespeare.com/trivia/timeline.htm The Chandos Portrait, John Taylor c.1600 National Portrait Gallery, London Why do we read Shakespeare? Shakespeare s works are over 400 years old. Since his time, so many other books and plays have been written that we may ask why we still care to read and perform his works. There are many ways we can answer this question, depending on where we look. First, let s consider what these plays are about. People often refer to Shakespeare s work as timeless and universal because the issues and themes prevalent in his works apply to humans of all ages and backgrounds; themes of love, self-discovery, relationships, and political strife are relevant in any society, whether in 1600, 1850, or 2016. Through watching or reading Shakespeare, we can easily draw parallels to contemporary and historical issues. Shakespeare s plays are also very much driven by human psychology. His characters are so well developed that we do not merely view the wide range of human emotions and the changes that each character experiences, but we also identify with these characters and their personal struggles throughout each play. Aside from the artistic importance of his works, Shakespeare also made many contributions to the English language. He coined thousands of new words and phrases that we still use today. For instance, the common phrase all s well that ends well actually comes from the title of one of Shakespeare s comedies! One might even say that Shakespeare s plays were part of the birth of modern English due to his creative wordplay, clever imagery, and evocative, if sometimes crude, Romeo and Juliet Study Guide 2
analogies. So, why do we still choose to read and watch Shakespeare today? We can learn so much about his culture period, as well time and the issues that are still relevant today. We can enhance our vocabulary greatly by studying his use of and contributions to the English language. In watching or reading Shakespeare s plays, challenge yourself to try and find something that applies to you and your life. It could be a character, a specific line, one of the main themes, or even a relationship. Everyone can connect to and identify with these plays in some capacity, so find the reason or multiple reasons his plays apply to you. Charlotte and Susan Cushman as Romeo and Juliet, 1846. Harvard Theatre Collection. Romeo and Juliet Performance History Of all Shakespeare s plays, this is perhaps the one that is performed, if not the oftenest, with most pleasure to the spectator. So begins Hazlitt s 1819 edition of Shakespeare s most excellent tragedie, Romeo and Juliet. This play, above all others, has proved most popular with audiences through the ages. The Bodleian First Folio of Shakespeare s plays held in the Oxford Library during the 1600s was sold in 1664, but reclaimed in 1905; when historians examined it, they noted that the pages of Romeo and Juliet were by far the most worn. It has long held a special place in audience s hearts. Romeo and Juliet was first performed sometime close to 1596, when Shakespeare was with the Lord Chamberlain s Men. While records of the period do not list the players according to parts, we can reliably assume that the famed Richard Burbage played the titular Romeo, with the fourteen-yearold Robert Goff as the first Juliet. It wasn t until William Davenant produced the play in 1662 that Mary Saunderson took the stage as the first female Juliet. The early 1700s left the script heavily censored by those who felt its innuendo was immoral. David Garrick, who was famous for publishing censored editions of Shakespeare s major plays, produced his edition of the text, with several large changes, the most notable of which is that the final scene Romeo and Juliet Study Guide 3
between Romeo and Juliet shows Romeo still alive when Juliet wakes up, allowing them a final farewell before Romeo succumbs to the poison. This edition was performed in 1730 by an amateur company in the United States, the first American production of Romeo and Juliet. In 1845, Charlotte Cushman became the first female Romeo, performing the play with her sister Susan as Juliet on a world tour to unanimous critical acclaim. Most importantly, Charlotte made the brave decision to restore the original text, including the long-cut innuendo that the public often felt was too crude and brash for the stage. In 1935, the renowned Sirs Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud performed the play at the New Theatre in London, to critical acclaim. Olivier and Gielgud, interestingly, swapped roles every night Laurence Olivier and Peggy Ashcroft in the between who would play Romeo and who would John Gielgud New Theatre Production, 1935 play Mercutio. Franco Zeffirelli, an Italian director, was hired by The Old Vic in London to direct the play in 1960 for what became a two year run. The play starred Dame Judi Dench and was notably shortened, with 1,000 lines, or one-third of the play, cut. Although Shakespeare purists were outraged at the omission of the Bard s language, many critics loved the deftness of Zeffirelli s storytelling. When the time came for Paramount Pictures to create a film version of Romeo and Juliet they looked no further than Zeffirelli, who used cuts similar to his stage version. The film was an instant success, and nearly universally loved by critics. No other film version would be made for another 28 years, until Baz Luhrmann directed Romeo + Juliet, a punk rock opera bursting with vitality, violence, noise, and camp humor in 1996. It, like its predecessor, was a smash hit. Source: Shakespeare, William, and Rene Weis. Romeo and Juliet. New York: Bloomsbury, 2012. Print.. Romeo and Juliet Study Guide 4
Shakespeare s Sources The story behind Romeo and Juliet, drawn from a feud between two Italian families, far predated Shakespeare s play. In 1298 Dante Alighieri wrote a letter to the Holy Roman Emperor Albert I warning him of the danger between two Italian families, the Montecchi and Capelletti. Luigi da Porto, an Italian writer, popularized the story with his novel Historia novellamente ritrovata di due nobili amanti (c. 1530). The story then fascinated writers and readers alike, being re-told by many writers, notably Matteo Bandello, an Italian writer who compiled a series of stories into a volume called Novelle in 1554. Shakespeare frequently turned to the stories that Bandello had recorded, most notably using him as a source for his plays Cymbeline, Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, and Twelfth Night. Shakespeare read these stories as translated by Willam Paynter in his Palace of Pleasure in 1567. Still, no source is more important for Romeo and Juliet than Arthur Brooke s The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet, written in 1562 and reprinted in 1582 due to high demand. The poem was 3,020 lines long, almost exactly as long as the play it inspired. Many scholars insist that Shakesepare had the text at his desk as he was writing, noting the fact that Shakespeare frequently borrows some of his most famous imagery from Brooke s poem, including the famous holy palmers exchange between Romeo and Juliet. Despite the numerous similarities between Brooke s and Shakespeare s versions of the story, it is Shakespeare s changes that are most interesting. Some are very simple, and most likely practical. Shakespeare retains the English version of Juliet s name her Italian name is Giulietta but uses Romeo s Italian name rather than the English Romeus as used by Brooke. These simple changes can be easily ascribed to the fact that Romeo and Juliet are far easier to rhyme with than their unwieldy counterparts. There are, however, many differences that are more profound. Shakespeare s Juliet is thirteen, a full three years younger than Brooke s sixteen-year-old heroine. This younger version of Juliet creates a greater sense of trepidation in an Elizabethan audience, who would consider marriage to be appropriate for a 16 year old, but not for a 13 year old. He also compresses the timeline to a mere Portrait of Matteo Bandello Frontispiece of BROOKE S Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet Study Guide 5
four days, whereas Brooke extends the action over nine months, with Romeus and Juliet remaining married for a full three months before they die. Shakespeare s shortened timeline makes the play almost impossibly fast-moving, giving the lovers no time to act and denying them any chance of escape from their tragic end. These differences aside, it is important to note that Shakespeare rarely invented his stories, but sourced them from history and other pieces of literature. At least three other writers had already written about Romeo and Juliet before Shakespeare had, and audiences were very familiar with the story. Shakespeare is most famous not for his ability to invent a plotline, but for his ability to re-invent his source material and shape a compelling story. Romeo and Juliet, one of his most popular works, is a testament to his ability to take an existing, familiar story and shape it into a dramatic play that can shock, awe, and touch the hearts of young and old alike. Pre-Show Questions 1. The play opens with a fight, which the Prince says is the third. Why do you think Shakespeare begins the play here? CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.5 2. Consider the marriage in the middle of the play. How does the play differ before and after the marriage? Why do you think Shakespeare places it right in the center of the story? CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.5 3. Choose Romeo or Juliet. How do the two characters change over the course of the play? What forces them to change, and how does it contribute to the story? CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.3 4. Choose a theme within Romeo and Juliet and describe how it develops over the course of the text. What devices does Shakespeare use? Cite specific examples from the text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.2 Post-Show Questions 1. Several characters in Romeo and Juliet have very different opinions about the nature of love. What do you think Shakespeare s point of view about love is? CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.6 2. Select one scene from the play you find particularly engaging. What makes it so moving to you? What devices does Shakespeare use? CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4 3. Now that you have seen the play performed rather than read, how have your opinions changed about the story, characters, or themes? CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.7.7, 8.7 Romeo and Juliet Study Guide 6
classic repertory company WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE S ROMEO AND JULIET directed by CLAY HOPPER Siobhan carroll Katie grindeland ivy ryan dana stern Jon vellante Samuel l. warton Jocelin weiss cast (in alphabetical order) Juliet Mercutio, Prince Benvolio, Lady Capulet Nurse, Montague Paris, Tybalt Romeo Friar Lawrence, Capulet, Peter siobhan carroll (Juliet) makes her New Repertory Theatre debut. Recent credits include Parade, Rosmersholm, The Serpent, Machinal, La obedi, and The Comedy of Errors (Boston University). She is a recent graduate of Boston University s School of Theatre. KATIE GRINDELAND (Mercutio, Prince) makes her New Repertory Theatre debut. Recent credits include A Midsummer Night s Dream (Hampshire Shakepeare Company), Richard III, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, and Uncommon Women and Others (Emerson Stage). Katie recently earned her BA in Theatre Education and Acting at Emerson College. IVY RYAN (Benvolio, Lady Capulet) makes her New Repertory Theatre debut. Recent credits include Parade, Rosmersholm, By the Bog of Cats, Henry IV pt. I, columbinus, boom (Boston University) and Julius Caesar and The Beaux Stratagem (LAMDA). Ivy earned her BFA in Acting from Boston University s School of Theatre and studied abroad at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. DANA STERN (Nurse, Montague) makes her New Repertory Theatre debut. Recent credits include A Midsummer Night s Dream and Much Ado about Nothing (S***-Faced Shakespeare), This is Treatment (Reviving Visions Theatre Company), O Beautiful (Emerson Stage), The Lady From the Sea (The Lee Strasberg Theatre, NYC). Dana earned her BFA Acting degree at Emerson College and has also trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute (NYC), and Armstrong Acting Studios (Toronto). jon vellante (Paris, Tybalt) makes his New Repertory Theatre debut. Recent credits include Daddy Issues (STAMP Productions) and Machinal and The Duchess of Malfi (Boston University). Jon earned his BFA in Acting at Boston University, and studied at the Accademia Dell Arte in Arezzo, Italy. samuel l. warton (Romeo) makes his New Repertory Theatre debut. Recent credits include: Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night s Dream (Shakespeare Now!); Three Sisters (Wellesley Rep.); The Winter s Tale and From the Sea, to Somewhere Else (Bay Colony Shakespeare Co.); Mystery Play (The Poets Theatre); and Peter Pan, The Liar, Casanova, and The Pillowman (UMass Amherst). Sam earned his BA in Theater from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. jocelin weiss (Friar Lawrence, Capulet, Peter) makes her New Repertory Theatre debut. Recent credits include The Plant (Roxbury Rep); MBTA: A T Musical and Gorefest: The 13th (ImprovBoston); and Macbeth (Commonwealth Shakespeare Apprentice Company). This December, she will return to New Rep in Fiddler on the Roof. Jocelin has trained at the Gately-Poole Conservatory and performs regularly in Catalyst Comedy s Kerplunk. She earned her B.A. from Skidmore College. CLAY HOPPER (Director) returns to New Repertory Theatre after directing A Number and Classic Repertory Company s 1984, Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night s Dream, Macbeth, Of Mice and Men, Great Expectations, Romeo and Juliet, and To Kill A Mockingbird. In Washington D.C., he served as the Associate Artistic Director of Olney Theatre Center and Director of both the National Players and the Summer Shakespeare Festival. He now serves as lecturer in Directing and Theatre Arts at Boston University s School of Theatre. Directing credits include Two Gentlemen of Verona, Twelfth Night, The Tempest, Othello, The Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Amadeus, Farragut North, Triumph of Love, and Call of the Wild (Olney Theatre). Other recent credits include On the Verge, or The Geography of Yearning (Contemporary American Theatre Festival Actor s Lab). Off-off-Broadway credits include A Home Without and Different Zen (Third Eye Rep); Earthworms (The Working Group); and Triage and The Interrogation (The Miranda Theatre). production designer mary SADER dramaturg ZACHARY DYER Romeo and Juliet Study Guide 7