The Most Lamentable Comedy and Most Cruel Death of Romeo and Juliet.”A retelling of William Shakespeare’s famous plays: Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

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O u r g o a l s• Approach the study and understanding of Shakespeare’s

“Romeo and Juliet” from a theatrical point of view. • Our goal is for the students to get excited about theatre in

general and Shakespeare in particular. • To see how current and relevant Shakespeare still is.• We want to show them that old plays can be “re-written” or

adapted to feel more contemporary and speak to a modern audience, without losing their essence.

Doing a “play”, “playing a character” is, in fact, just that: PLAYING. We want the whole process to feel like a game.

T h e p r e m i s e

“Romeo and Juliet”

meets

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”

T h e p r e m i s e

• The choice isn’t arbitrary because of course “Romeo and Juliet” is based on the story of “Pyramus and Thisbe”, which also serves as the plot for the play put on by the mechanicals in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. Or as they call it:

“ T h e M o s t L a m e n t a b l e C o m e d y a n d M o s t C r u e l D e a t h o f

P y r a m u s a n d T h i s b e * ”

*Romeo and Juliet in our production

W h a t t h i s a l l o w s f o r. . . .• Introduction of elements of comedy.• Flexibility in terms of characters and female / male ratios.• Adaptable to the participating students and their abilities.• Introduces the concept of play-within-a-play.

Note: The focus is still on Romeo and Juliet. It isn’t necessary to read A Midsummer Night’s Dream but they should watch the 1999 movie directed by Michael Hoffman.

A d a p t a ti o n• The action takes place in a classroom.

A place associated to learning and knowledge, but also, to some students, sometimes associated to boredom and tediousness. Adjectives also often associated to theatre.

• Yet “to play” means both to perform and to do something for fun!We aim to transform the classroom and literature class into a space associated to “playing”, to fun. Both during the rehearsal process and as the premise for the final outcome.

• Our comedy and our tragedy come together in one single piece through Pyramus and Thisbe and Romeo and Juliet.

• This meta-theatrical game with Shakespeare’s plays will have one master of ceremonies: the mischievous Puck. The most magical sprite in theatre will take us through this dream, encouraging us to play and to re-imagine the story.

A d a p t a ti o n

O u r t h e a t r e : SAT!• A school’s classroom, with

the 20 tables and chairs of the participating students, will be the versatile set design of our production. Through them we will see cities, forests, balconies… everything that Shakespeare, in his empty Globe theatre, got his audience to imagine.

• For all this, we have at our disposal the SAT theatre, that allows us to implement a light and sound design that will help the audience enter this magical game, and bring together dreams and reality.

D r a m a t u r g y• Simplified modern English (and small bits of the original text).• It is a fun environment to practice English and get further

acquainted with Shakespeare’s literature…• …and to show them the aliveness of theatre. Classic plays can

be modernised.• We want to encourage the students to participate with

anything they can offer creatively!• It is a flexible script that will grow during rehearsals. Including

using the students’ own languages.• We make the most of the artistic abilities of your students.

S t a g e s / C a l e n d a r

The game begins. Each stage “unlocks” the next.

BY DECEMBER 1st: Stage 1: Filmed audition.

• The kids, with your help, will be asked to record a short audition video of themselves.

• Any kid who wants to can participate as an exercise. The final selection can either be made exclusively by the teachers and coordinators, or we can make the final call from a pre-selection you send us.

• The videos will allow us to assign the characters and roles.

Stage 1: Audition

• Three things feature in the video:

*If the kids have any special abilities, those can be included in the production.

- A brief introduction to answer the following questions: • What is your name? How old are you?• Where are you from? What is the name of your

school?• Have you ever done any theatre? Do you like going

to the theatre?• Do you play any instruments?• What are your hobbies? *

Stage 1: Audition

- Memorizing and reciting this slightly altered passage from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

“This is a list of the names of all the men and women in Europe who are good enough to act in the play we’re going to perform in Barcelona for the duke and duchess on their wedding night. Our play is called The Most Lamentable Comedy and Most Cruel Death of Romeo and Juliet. Let me tell you, it’s a great piece of work, and very very funny.”

• “Stage direction”: Their goal is to convince potential fellow actors (on the other side of the camera), that they are eager to do this play and to encourage them to participate.

Stage 1: Audition- An additional monologue of their choice.Four options will be given, as well as some very simple guidelines on how to play each part. (For example: demonstrating authority.)

“Stop it! Stop this fighting now! Everybody stop! Put down your swords and listen to me. I am very angry. This fighting must stop. If the Capulet family or the Montague family disturb the Peace again, you will pay with your lives. Do you understand? Capulet, come with me. I want to talk to you .Montague, come to my palace this afternoon. Remember, I want no more fighting between your two families.”

- The Prince. Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, scene 1.

“I, Snout, play a wall. But not just any wall. I’m pretending to be a wall that has a little hole in it. The lovers Romeo and Juliet whispered very secretly through that hole. This clay, this cement, and this stone that I have around me show that I’m that wall. It’s the truth. And this is the hole, right side and left side, through which the lovers will be whispering.”

- Snout, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 5, scene 1.

Stage 1: Audition

It is important that you adjust the English difficulty of the monologues to each student. Not the entire monologue is required.

”I’m sorry about my friends, Nurse. They like to joke. I must see Juliet again. She is like the sun. Her eyes are stars. She is an angel. Tell Juliet she must go to Friar Laurence’s room this afternoon and we will be married. Remember Nurse, nobody knows. It’s a secret plan, so don’t tell anybody. “

- Romeo (to Nurse), Romeo and Juliet, Act II Act 2 (scenes I and III)

“(speaking to herself, very nervous) Where is Nurse? She went out at nine o’clock this morning and promised to return in thirty minutes…Now it’s twelve o’clock. (Nurse arrives, but she doesn’t say anything) Oh, here she is. (pause. Juliet waits for the news.) Well, what did he say? (pause) Nurse, speak to me!! (pause) What did he say about our wedding? Nurse!!!!! (after a long pause Juliet starts laughing or crying, but very happy) Oh, thank you Nurse, thank you!!! Now I must go and prepare.”

- Juliet, Romeo and Juliet, Act II (scene IV)

S t a g e s / C a l e n d a rDURING DECEMBER: Stage 2 - reading• Reading of Romeo and Juliet the adapted version.• Viewing of the film A Midsummer Night’s Dream (we

recommend the 1996 version directed by Michael Hoffman).

S t a g e s / C a l e n d a r

AFTER CHRISTMAS: Stage 3 – short quizzes• Quiz 1: OUTLINE.

After they respond correctly to a few questions on Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, they receive via email, an outline of the adaptation.

• Quiz 2: ROLES. (Later in January)A few on questions on William Shakespeare (they should be able to find out easily) to encourage some research. As soon as they’ve got the right answers, they will know which role they play.

S t a g e s / C a l e n d a r

END OF JANUARY: Stage 4 – finding their scene partners.• When everyone knows their role, they will be given the

contact details of the other kids and will be asked to find out – via email, facebook or skype - who their scene partners are. When they do, they will receive the full script. • The goal is for the kids to start knowing each other. Not to be afraid

to interact with someone from another country. To practice their English and to use new technologies.

S t a g e s / C a l e n d a r

UNTIL APRIL: Stage 5 – Understanding & memorising script• They need to know their lines by the time they get to Barcelona.

They can help each other out running lines.

APRIL: Stage 6 – Rehearsals in Barcelona!• 1 week of rehearsals to put on the play.• The students from Barcelona not performing will also help.

N e w t e c h n o l o g i e s• All the information will be centralised on a website. Including a

calendar, the quizzes, etc. Whenever there is an update, they will receive a notification via email/Facebook group.

• Social platform: Facebook / Skype…* We’re open to suggestions. We want the kids to be able to communicate amongst themselves during the process. We also want to always be in touch and available to you.

W h a t w e a s k f r o m y o u

• Carry out the audition phase. Helping them understand the extract at a very basic level: • English comprehension • who their characters is• who they’re speaking to

• Work in class on the play Romeo and Juliet.• Viewing the film A Midsummer Night’s Dream (we recommend

the 1996 version directed by Michael Hoffman).• Optional: Viewing the film Romeo and Juliet (we recommend

the 1996 version directed by Baz Luhrmann).• Helping them through stage 4, to contact the kids from other

countries. • Helping them memorise their lines.

See you in Barcelona!