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David Leveaux Romeo and Juliet : The Classical Shakespearean World and Our Modernity Combination
Introduction
For the paper, I chose the production by David Leveaux at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway in 2013. I was especially curious to watch this production, as Orlando Bloom is my favorite actor: he is starred as Romeo. I believe he is a great person to play such a dramatic and complex character as Romeo. My initial impression in the first five minutes of the recording was that I was deeply interested in continue watching the performance, as Leveaux gave a modern interpretation of Shakespeares classics. Romeo appeared on the stage, driving the motorcycle and wearing blue jeans and sunglasses.
Main body
It is essential to provide a summary of the plots story in order to clear all the details. Even though the current production is a modern interpretation of the play, the storyline has not been changed, and it is aligned with the original Shakespeares story. It is a tragic love story of two young people Romeo and Juliet, and a war between their families, Montagues, and Capulets. The events of the story occur in the streets of Verona, Italy. Montagues and Capulets are in a blood feud, and they hate each other. Romeo Montague is in love with Rosaline, and he shares his unrequited feelings with his cousin Benvolio. At the same time, a relative of Prince Paris searches for an opportunity to marry Juliet Capulet. Her father asks him to wait until his daughter turns 14 years old. However, he decides to hold an event at his house and invite Paris. Benvolio suggests Romeo join the feast to compare his beloved Rosaline to other beautiful women of Verona and forget her.
Romeo arrives at the feast with Benvolio and his friend Mercutio. Romeo sees Juliet and falls in love at first sight: he forgets Rosaline. They talk and realize how much they are attracted by each other, they kiss. Then they both discover that they belong to families, which are at war with each other. Consequently, they are distraught by this fact because they understand what it means. Romeo arrives at a confessor and his friend Lawrence, and he agrees to marry them secretly. The two young people become married with the help of Lawrence.
Juliets cousin, Tybalt, finds out that Romeo attended their family event without invitation and challenges him to a duel. Romeo does not wish to fight, and his friend Mercutio decides to do it for him. Mercutio gets killed, and an enraged Romeo kills Tybalt. As a result, the Prince expels Romeo from Verona for his crime. Juliets father decides to marry her off to Paris just in three days, and she finds the only way to avoid this is to pretend to be dead in order to escape with Romeo. He receives false news thinking that Juliet is truly dead, and decides to kill himself. Juliet finds him dead and ends her life beside him. As a result of the tragedy of their children, Montagues and Capulets end a blood feud.
It should be said that it is a brilliant idea to choose an amazing actress Condola Rashad for Juliets lead role. Moreover, Romeo being white and Juliet being black might highlight their families separation (Brantley). However, it does not make any obstacle for them because they are in love. Furthermore, even though the moments on stage are believable, I noticed that the kiss of Romeo and Juliet is shown rather adult than a teenage. Young people usually demonstrate lust, passion, and erotic, which I did not observe on the stage.
I enjoyed that the production is bright, emotional, saturated, and unusual. However, I could not find an explanation for why the director needed to make it a modern interpretation. I find it, in a way distracting from the classical Shakespearean plot. It is unclear why the protagonists were dressed in modern clothes and were of different ages. It might be appropriate if dialogues were changed accordingly. However, contemporary settings and Shakespeares texts do not match in my personal view. Similar can be said about altered facts of the play as of ages. One of the storys central places is teenage love; thus, changing the age modifies the very essence of the play.
Although I prefer the classic version of the play, I would recommend the product to a friend. It will be a sophisticated friend or acquaintance who possesses specific knowledge of theatre. I believe that it is complicated to understand and analyze modern productions of classical pieces if a person does not understand classical literature and does not visit theaters on a regular basis.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I believe that the production by David Leveaux is an excellent piece of art and the piece that should have been seen. Even though I provided specific critiques, I was amazed by the lightness and mesmerizing power of the performance. It is astonishing how the director combined the classical Shakespearean world and our modernity in one piece. Regardless of whether I may have questions about this performance, I should say that it looks amazingly hormonal despite its inner complexity and contradictions.
Work Cited
Brantley, Ben. Such Sweet Sorrow. The New York Times, 2013.
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