ROMEO AND JULIET BY CIARA CONROY OBJECTIVES Production

ROMEO AND JULIET BY CIARA CONROY

OBJECTIVES: • Production History • Artaud and Brecht’s perspectives on scenography • Artaud version of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ • Brecht version of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ • Bibliography

PRODUCTION HISTORY • Written in 1597, designed to be played in daylight on a thrust stage of an Elizabethan playhouse. Balcony used for Juliet’s window, trap door for her tomb. No scenery, minimum props. Focus on language and costume. • In the late sixties, the play took over by storm in Drury Lane and Covent Garden, both giving a different perspective on the tragedy while fighting for the spotlight. • In the late nineties, Franco Jeffirelli brought in his own Italian background to the piece performed in the ‘Old Vic’ giving it an authentic, natural feel. This was a new wave of showing the play which allowed future adaptations to be as abstract as possible. • The story has evolved from Shakespeare’s time. Adapted into musicals. . Shying away from the script, focus on the visual. Inspired Ballet performances and movies.

ARTAUD PERSPECTIVE ON SCENOGRAPHY • Influenced by ritualized theatre- wanted the piece to have a psychophysical effect on the audience. Used the structure of the space to convey his feelings. • Initially proposed the idea of a ‘black box’ space. Wanted space to be flexible for creation. Black Box allowed for colour and design, no boundaries. • Focused on evoking feelings through simplicity rather than large scheme productions. • Showcased a realist reflection of the outside world. • Use of architecture, height and depth in the space.

BRECHT PERSPECTIVE ON SCENOGRAPHY • Reason, not feeling. • Capable of provoking social change. • Wanted spectators to be critical of the performance • Alienation effect- enactment of reality ( harsh white light, minimum props, lamps in view) • ‘Observers’of the scene • No fourth wall = addressing the audience directly • Use of dance, song and chorus( pantomine)

BRECHT VERSION OF ROMEO AND JULIET Spoken word piece/ poetry used/ raw emotions No use of original script Two sides of the story. Modernised as racial prejudice. ( One white male, one multicultural female) Full of gesture, use of narrative as a flash back. Appear to be making a mockery of their society through song, true message underlined.

ARTAUD VERSION OF ROMEO AND JULIET • Set in a black box. White Syc for projection. Puppetry. Use of gantry.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Bruner, Zachary. “Special Proportions of Height and Depth: ” Antonin Artaud and the Search for a Grammar of Space. Connectiucut, April, 2008. From miscellaneous WWW sources (1956) Available at: http: //web. mit. edu/allanmc/www/brecht. pdf RSC (2017) Stage history | Romeo and Juliet | royal Shakespeare company. Available at: https: //www. rsc. org. uk/romeo-and-juliet/past-productions/stage-histor W. A. J. Steer. “Brecht's Epic Theatre: Theory and Practice. ” The Modern Language Review, vol. 63, no. 3, 1968, pp. 636– 649. , www. jstor. org/stable/3722205.