William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, it could be said, has got it all. The play is deceptively simple; boy meets girl, they fall in love, and a series of unfortunate events involving their families’ long-standing blood feud leads to boy and girl’s tragic deaths. It’s easy to see why it so often appears on high school English curricula. It’s got everything teens love: relatable protagonists, parents who don’t understand, Big Feelings, communication breakdowns, angst (and even some ribald jokes for the more language-arts-inclined). This classic love story is one of Shakespeare’s most enduring contributions to the literary canon.
Unconventional Takes on a Star-Cross’d Classic
Part of the reason for Romeo & Juliet’s pervasive pertinence is its adaptability. Residents of the City Beautiful are lucky to have a Shakespeare theatre in our very own fair Verona: the Orlando Shakes, currently performing Romeo & Juliet as part of their 37th Season Signature Series. But this classic can be enjoyed even outside the proscenium, especially when considered from a new perspective. Here are four interesting iterations of Romeo & Juliet, all of which enhance the original by introducing new ideas, characters or settings – and all available to experience free with your OCLS library card.
West Side Story (1961)
Of the many adaptations of Romeo & Juliet, the 1957 musical West Side Story might be the most well-known. The film version from 1961 achieved 10 Academy Awards and is widely regarded as one of the best musical films ever made. West Side Story exchanges feuding families for warring teen warriors and adds a racial element that grounds the action in its contemporary New York City setting. Like their predecessors, our lovers, Tony and Maria, meet at a party and fall hopelessly in love, going against their respective families for a chance at happiness. Despite some captivating choreography and catchy musical numbers, West Side Story (spoiler alert!) does maintain the more tragic elements of its source material, with at least one of our pair shuffling off this mortal coil.
Warm Bodies (2013)
While Warm Bodies is more directly based on the novel by Isaac Marion, it does follow a familiar plot: boy meets girl, etc. … It just so happens the boy in this case is “R,” a zombie, shuffling through a boring afterlife post-apocalypse. When R meets Julie, a living human girl, he rescues her and is shocked to find his heart literally starting to beat again. After earning her trust, the two navigate their budding romance amid a sea of troubles, not least of which is R’s hunger for human brains.
Though it’s hardly a conventional retelling, Warm Bodies’ R and Julie share names and circumstances with Romeo and Juliet, both being representatives of warring factions whose love sets fate into motion. There’s even a balcony scene.
Prince of Cats by Ronald Wimberly
Prince of Cats is a clever graphic novel that builds up to the fateful meeting of Romeo and Juliet. Like West Side Story, Prince of Cats updates the setting to New York City, this time in a hip hop-infused 1980s, where gang wars are fought with samurai swords and rhymes flow. Though creator Ronald Wimberly takes inspiration from a vast canon of his own, the wordplay and witticisms he crafts his story around are more than worthy of the Bard. This work moves fringe players to the center as it follows our eponymous Prince of Cats, Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, toward his own unfortunate violent end. It’s a unique and powerful remix of Romeo & Juliet, one that helps underline how relevant and accessible Shakespeare’s work can still be.
& Juliet
Easily the most playful Romeo & Juliet adaptation in a long time, the 2019 musical & Juliet asks a simple question that flips the classic on its head: what if Juliet didn’t die? Major players include Juliet and her nurse, and the action starts just after Romeo has taken his fatal dose of poison. Shakespeare himself and his wife Anne Hathaway (not that one) also feature as characters, exploring creative differences over Juliet’s autonomy, tackling issues in their own relationship, and seriously stretching notions of authorship.
& Juliet is also a jukebox musical, highlighting music by pop songwriter Max Martin, described in the show’s Playbill as “basically the Shakespeare of pop music.” The songs impart Shakespeare’s foundational story of teenage angst with teenage anthems from the past few decades. It’s an impossibly fun update, and if it’s a little less studious than some of the others out there, at least it’s got a soundtrack you can definitely dance to.
Experience the Original with Orlando Shakes
Of course, there’s nothing like the original. You can catch Romeo & Juliet live on stage at Orlando Shakes. This production invites audiences to see themselves in the characters and conflicts, asking an essential question that still resonates today: what are we willing to risk to remain divided? Whether you know the story by heart or are experiencing it for the first time, this is an opportunity to engage with Shakespeare as it was meant to be heard, felt, and experienced.
Tickets to the Shakes’ bold new production are on sale now for productions running through February 8.
OCLS cardholders can unlock $10 off any Romeo & Juliet ticket by using the code OCLS37 at checkout. Visit orlandoshakes.org or call 407-447-1700.
