Shakespeare's R & J by Joe Calarco

by Joe Calarco

A refreshing contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy In an exclusive boys' boarding school, where students are forbidden to read Romeo &Juliet, four students put on a secret production of the play which brings violence, betrayal, lust, love and mortality into their own lives. "This is a thrilling piece of work, both study aid and gripping theatre" John Peter, The Sunday Times "I'd forgotten the play could be so good. I seemed to hear the words for the first time" Jeremy Kingston, The Times "Prepare for a bracing and brilliant shock to the system...an inspired new theatrical take on this early masterpiece" Paul Taylor, IndependentThis award-winning play, which ran for a year in New York, is published to tie in with the Arts Theatre, London run in early September 2003

Genres: Plays, LGBT, Theatre

Paperback

First published June 1, 1998

Reviews

[Vaibhavi Hemasundar]

stage managing a sapphic production of this play <3

it’s a brilliant remixing of shakespeare’s romeo and juliet, with snippets from a midsummer night’s dream as well as shakespearean sonnets and some original text from calarco.

[John Perine · Rating 5 out of 5]

My dream adaptation of Romeo & Juliet. This. This is it. This is the theatre I want to make forever.

[seraphim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did a reading of this a week ago. It still lingers in my mind. It’s a work that you can’t get through in one sitting without the need to take breaks. Worth reading with friends to get the full experience of the text :))

[Hanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The classic retold by 5 school boys. Fascinating interpretation bolstered with well-selected excerpts from the Bard's other masterpieces. Cannot wait to see it actually performed with the single, enormous bolt of red silk as the only prop in the entire show.

[Meg Brewer · Rating 3 out of 5]

would really love to see the physicality play out on stage

[K M · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up to 4, really interesting splicing of shakespeare and prayer, the stage directions really made the magic though

[Hilda H · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't think that I got this on the page but will be interested to see how it plays on the stage...

[Lex Joyce]

I’m working on a project but I fear I’m also hyperfixating

[Alexander Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the play-within-a-play aspect of this piece. Four boys at a prep school sneak out at night to read a copy of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. As they read, the four students take on various roles and their lines take on a double meaning with their overlapping school life. The fun night of acting turns serious as a possible relationship emerges, but is it all play acting or is it real?

I went and YouTubed a bunch of productions of this play, and I am in love. All of the different versions of the staging are unique and still in league with the script. It looks likes such a cool show to produce.

I read the revised 82 page edition with an extended author's note from Joe Calarco about how directing this show multiple times brought about changes each time until this final version of the show. It's also interesting to hear how it has been viewed through each production and change until it's final version. Very interesting thoughts!

[Colin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't realize that Calarco (more or less) uses Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet script (with some bits of WS sonnets and A Midsummer Night's Dream). Had I known that, I would have rather reread the original. The concept is great, but it doesn't succeed on the page; on the stage, Calarco's gay adaptation of this classic has great potential.