During Week #3 of rehearsals for Romeo & Juliet Remix, our ensembles dug deeper into the plot and flexed their improvisation muscles.
Romeo and Juliet has been around for over 400 years, so many of our actors already know this story and have a connection to it. Our ensembles also appreciate that falling in love is deadly serious stuff. There is a lot of excitement that it’s our turn to work on this story and to make it our own.
We kicked off with an introspective check in question: Romeo kills Tybalt without thinking, and, as a result, he gets banished from Verona. Have you ever done something impulsive, without thinking? What happened Many of our ensemble (actors and teaching team alike) shared that they are impulsive with FOOD and eat favorite snacks or take seconds without thinking. We also shared stories about telling secrets we shouldn’t have shared and getting into arguments with friends and family members. Sometime it’s easy to think things through, but when we are very excited or angry or hungry, it is harder! What do you think.
Then we spent some time with the story. The game On the Spot is one of our favorite ways to learn about SETTINGS. We worked together to bring to life different places in Fair Verona like The Capulet Party, The Apothecary Shop, and The Capulet’s Tomb. Actors made different sound and movements to bring objects and characters in each place to life through a moving picture. Check out this clip to see some of our actors in action, and get a peek at our in-class visual aids.
In a Snap is a longer activity where we told the whole story in just 15 minutes! One of our teaching artists narrate a synopsis of the play, and throughout, actors called out different lines and acted out different key moments with the help of our facilitators. This is a great way to remember the plot, and to play with Shakespeare’s language.
What Would You Do?
Romeo & Juliet is a tragedy. There is a lot of death, and violence throughout the play, and that can be hard to deal with. Especially since, over the past year, we have already been feeling disconnected from our friends and our families. After diving into the Plot, we spent some time in small breakout rooms thinking about how we could have made a happy ending for Romeo and Juliet. Each group watched a different conflict moment from the story and improvised some solutions that could have brought us a happy ending. Here are some of our suggestions for changing the play:
Tybalt and Mercutio’s fight
Benvolio urges them to go inside. They should listen to him.
They could go meditate to calm down
Just walk away and say “I am not engaging.”
Juliet’s argument with her parents
The Nurse could have interrupted and stood up for Juliet
Use your inside voices and have a rational conversation.
Don’t yell at your child. “Listen to your child with an open heart. Sing to her and say nice words to her'“
The lovers kill themselves
Juliet can make a magic antidote to the potion, say the magic words , and bring Romeo back to life
Romeo could take a deep breath and just wait a little bit longer!
They can go talk to Romeo’s parents who are nicer than Juliet’s and might help them. Or they can run away to Philadelphia and Romeo can get a job as a dogwalker.
Romeo & Juliet Remix is not your traditional Shakespeare! Throughout our film, our actors will have the opportunity to put scenes in their own words and to reimagine key moments like this. This exercise was a great way to flex our creative muscles and start thinking about how we can make this story our own!
Of course there’s still lots more work today, but we’re already a third of the way through the semester! Stick with us for updates from rehearsal, and keep practicing your ASL so you can be a part of Romeo & Juliet Remix. Here’s Video #3 if you need a refresher:
