Romeo and Juliet

[ceebeegee]

I have wanted to do this play for a while, but have hesitated because there are so few juicy roles for women--the Nurse and Juliet, and that's pretty much it. (Another reason is that you need a SET for R&J, you really can't do it outside.) I always thought, if Holla Holla did do it, I would cast Mercutio as a woman, perhaps in love with Romeo which would shed some light on Mercutio's later actions. But looking through the character list, I might be able to convert some other roles:

Prince Escalus: Prince of Verona--could easily be a Princess.

Benvolio: Cousin of Romeo--I can't remember much about what he does, but could this be cast as a woman?

The Chorus--definitely.

I don't want to mix it up too much, because with R&J I feel there's a lot of testosterone in it--that the feud is so senselessly murderous that on some level it's a dick-measuring contest. So I don't want to cross-cast Tybalt or Paris or the servants who mix it up at the beginning.

Comments

[king-duncan.livejournal.com]

In the production Don just did they had a Princess Escalus, and made Montague into a woman (with an assumed dead husband).

Tell us how you really feel...

[melebeth]

Bleck. Ick. R&J. Bleck. Ptui. :) I begged my friend Kelley to stop directing productions of it that I'd feel obligated to go and see, because it is by far my least favorite of the commonly produced plays. Although I really want to write a "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern" type play for the Nurse and the Friar.

[dry-2olives.livejournal.com]

Or maybe cross cast the whole play. Set it in an Amazon type society.

[nppyinzer.livejournal.com]

My recollection is that Benvolio starts the fight that leads off Act I ("I do not bite my thumb at you, sir, I do but merely bite my thumb").

In my testosterone-having opinion, you can't cross-cast both Benvolio and Mercutio, because Romeo needs at least one "guy friend" to listen to him get all poetical and shit about how in twue wub he is.

Re: Tell us how you really feel...

[carasol.livejournal.com]

I actually saw a Fringe play last year about the Friar and the Nurse, and the playwright turned it into a whole platform on the rights of Catholic clergy to marry, and other such bollocks. I wanted to like it. Didn't.

Re: Tell us how you really feel...

[melebeth]

Ugh. Not at all what I want to do with it. I want to take as a jumping point his early scene with Romeo where he discusses all the girls Romeo has loved before (who've travelled in and out his door), and focus on what his motivation might be for pushing _this_ pairing. Star crossed lovers, my ass.

[ceebeegee.livejournal.com]

That's a good point. It's been awhile since I've read it--forgot exactly who Benvolio was.

I don't think he starts off the fight though--aren't those a few servants?

Re: Tell us how you really feel...

[carasol.livejournal.com]

See, that would be interesting!! I'd actually be interested in seeing that, because you're completely right, they aren't star-crossed at all. Without the Friar and the Nurse helping out, the play would never happen.

In the play I saw, Romeo and Juliet are only ever offstage characters. The only people we see are the Friar and the Nurse, and the only time a word of Shakespeare is spoken is when the Friar gets word (from offstage, of course) that his letter to Romeo never arrived. My friend (Ben, actually) said that the whole theme of the play seemed to be "Easy come, easy go," as in "Oh, well, they're dead, easy come, easy go. Now let's talk about me leaving the clergy and us getting married."

Bah.

Re: Tell us how you really feel...

[ceebeegee.livejournal.com]

Well, I really like it! *stomp* I know it's done a lot, but there's a reason for that--the language is so beautiful. I mean, how can you not love a line like "You kiss by the book..." That whole extended pilgrim metaphor when they first meet at the dance at the gym party is just...exquisite.

Re: Tell us how you really feel...

[melebeth]

*giggle*

Hmm... Kelley likes it to. I mean, clearly you're both nuts, but I respect both of you so there must be something appealing in it that I am utterly incapabable of seeing :)

Re: Tell us how you really feel...

[ceebeegee.livejournal.com]

*Tosses produce-orial/directorial hair* Well, we'll just have to MAKE you see it.

Did you not SEE Shakespeare in Love? Are you made of STONE, woman? (Although I loved it long before that movie.)

[nppyinzer.livejournal.com]

My recollection is based entirely on the Reduced Shakespeare Company, so you're probably right.