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Scholars have found it extremely difficult to assign one specific , overarching theme to the play . Proposals for a main theme include a discovery by the characters that human beings are neither wholly good nor wholly evil , but instead are more or less alike , awaking out of a dream and into reality , the danger of hasty action , or the power of tragic fate . None of these have widespread support . However , even if an overall theme cannot be found it is clear that the play is full of several small , thematic elements that intertwine in complex ways . Several of those most often debated by scholars are discussed below .
= = = Love = = =
Romeo and Juliet is sometimes considered to have no unifying theme , save that of young love . Romeo and Juliet have become emblematic of young lovers and doomed love . Since it is such an obvious subject of the play , several scholars have explored the language and historical context behind the romance of the play .
On their first meeting , Romeo and Juliet use a form of communication recommended by many etiquette authors in Shakespeare 's day : metaphor . By using metaphors of saints and sins , Romeo was able to test Juliet 's feelings for him in a non @-@ threatening way . This method was recommended by Baldassare Castiglione ( whose works had been translated into English by this time ) . He pointed out that if a man used a metaphor as an invitation , the woman could pretend she did not understand him , and he could retreat without losing honour . Juliet , however , participates in the metaphor and expands on it . The religious metaphors of " shrine " , " pilgrim " and " saint " were fashionable in the poetry of the time and more likely to be understood as romantic rather than blasphemous , as the concept of sainthood was associated with the Catholicism of an earlier age . Later in the play , Shakespeare removes the more daring allusions to Christ 's resurrection in the tomb he found in his source work : Brooke 's Romeus and Juliet .
In the later balcony scene , Shakespeare has Romeo overhear Juliet 's soliloquy , but in Brooke 's version of the story her declaration is done alone . By bringing Romeo into the scene to eavesdrop , Shakespeare breaks from the normal sequence of courtship . Usually a woman was required to be modest and shy to make sure that her suitor was sincere , but breaking this rule serves to speed along the plot . The lovers are able to skip courting , and move on to plain talk about their relationship — agreeing to be married after knowing each other for only one night . In the final suicide scene , there is a contradiction in the message — in the Catholic religion , suicides were often thought to be condemned to hell , whereas people who die to be with their loves under the " Religion of Love " are joined with their loves in paradise . Romeo and Juliet 's love seems to be expressing the " Religion of Love " view rather than the Catholic view . Another point is that although their love is passionate , it is only consummated in marriage , which keeps them from losing the audience 's sympathy .
The play arguably equates love and sex with death . Throughout the story , both Romeo and Juliet , along with the other characters , <unk> about it as a dark being , often equating it with a lover . Capulet , for example , when he first discovers Juliet 's ( faked ) death , describes it as having deflowered his daughter . Juliet later erotically compares Romeo and death . Right before her suicide she grabs Romeo 's dagger , saying " O happy dagger ! This is thy sheath . There rust , and let me die . "
= = = Fate and chance = = =
Scholars are divided on the role of fate in the play . No consensus exists on whether the characters are truly fated to die together or whether the events take place by a series of unlucky chances . Arguments in favour of fate often refer to the description of the lovers as " star @-@ cross 'd " . This phrase seems to hint that the stars have predetermined the lovers ' future . John W. Draper points out the parallels between the Elizabethan belief in the four humours and the main characters of the play ( for example , Tybalt as a choleric ) . Interpreting the text in the light of humours reduces the amount of plot attributed to chance by modern audiences . Still , other scholars see the play as a series of unlucky chances — many to such a degree that they do not see it as a tragedy at all , but an emotional melodrama . Ruth Nevo believes the high degree to which chance is stressed in the narrative makes Romeo and Juliet a " lesser tragedy " of happenstance , not of character . For example , Romeo 's challenging Tybalt is not impulsive ; it is , after Mercutio 's death , the expected action to take . In this scene , Nevo reads Romeo as being aware of the dangers of flouting social norms , identity and commitments . He makes the choice to kill , not because of a tragic flaw , but because of circumstance .
= = = Duality ( light and dark ) = = =
Scholars have long noted Shakespeare 's widespread use of light and dark imagery throughout the play . Caroline Spurgeon considers the theme of light as " symbolic of the natural beauty of young love " and later critics have expanded on this interpretation . For example , both Romeo and Juliet see the other as light in a surrounding darkness . Romeo describes Juliet as being like the sun , brighter than a torch , a jewel sparkling in the night , and a bright angel among dark clouds . Even when she lies apparently dead in the tomb , he says her " beauty makes This vault a feasting presence full of light . " Juliet describes Romeo as " day in night " and " Whiter than snow upon a raven 's back . " This contrast of light and dark can be expanded as symbols — contrasting love and hate , youth and age in a metaphoric way . Sometimes these intertwining metaphors create dramatic irony . For example , Romeo and Juliet 's love is a light in the midst of the darkness of the hate around them , but all of their activity together is done in night and darkness , while all of the feuding is done in broad daylight . This paradox of imagery adds atmosphere to the moral dilemma facing the two lovers : loyalty to family or loyalty to love . At the end of the story , when the morning is gloomy and the sun hiding its face for sorrow , light and dark have returned to their proper places , the outward darkness reflecting the true , inner darkness of the family feud out of sorrow for the lovers . All characters now recognise their folly in light of recent events , and things return to the natural order , thanks to the love and death of Romeo and Juliet . The " light " theme in the play is also heavily connected to the theme of time , since light was a convenient way for Shakespeare to express the passage of time through descriptions of the sun , moon , and stars .
= = = Time = = =
Time plays an important role in the language and plot of the play . Both Romeo and Juliet struggle to maintain an imaginary world void of time in the face of the harsh realities that surround them . For instance , when Romeo swears his love to Juliet by the moon , she protests " O swear not by the moon , th <unk> moon , / That monthly changes in her circled orb , / Lest that thy love prove likewise variable . " From the very beginning , the lovers are designated as " star @-@ cross 'd " referring to an <unk> belief associated with time . Stars were thought to control the fates of humanity , and as time passed , stars would move along their course in the sky , also charting the course of human lives below . Romeo speaks of a foreboding he feels in the stars ' movements early in the play , and when he learns of Juliet 's death , he defies the stars ' course for him .
Another central theme is haste : Shakespeare 's Romeo and Juliet spans a period of four to six days , in contrast to Brooke 's poem 's spanning nine months . Scholars such as G. Thomas <unk> believe that time was " especially important to Shakespeare " in this play , as he used references to " short @-@ time " for the young lovers as opposed to references to " long @-@ time " for the " older generation " to highlight " a headlong rush towards doom " . Romeo and Juliet fight time to make their love last forever . In the end , the only way they seem to defeat time is through a death that makes them immortal through art .
Time is also connected to the theme of light and dark . In Shakespeare 's day , plays were most often performed at noon or in the afternoon in broad daylight . This forced the playwright to use words to create the illusion of day and night in his plays . Shakespeare uses references to the night and day , the stars , the moon , and the sun to create this illusion . He also has characters frequently refer to days of the week and specific hours to help the audience understand that time has passed in the story . All in all , no fewer than 103 references to time are found in the play , adding to the illusion of its passage .
= = Criticism and interpretation = =
= = = Critical history = = =
The earliest known critic of the play was diarist Samuel Pepys , who wrote in 1662 : " it is a play of itself the worst that I ever heard in my life . " Poet John Dryden wrote 10 years later in praise of the play and its comic character Mercutio : " Shakespear show 'd the best of his skill in his Mercutio , and he said himself , that he was <unk> 'd to kill him in the third Act , to prevent being killed by him . " Criticism of the play in the 18th century was less sparse , but no less divided . Publisher Nicholas Rowe was the first critic to ponder the theme of the play , which he saw as the just punishment of the two feuding families . In mid @-@ century , writer Charles <unk> and philosopher Lord Kames argued that the play was a failure in that it did not follow the classical rules of drama : the tragedy must occur because of some character flaw , not an accident of fate . Writer and critic Samuel Johnson , however , considered it one of Shakespeare 's " most pleasing " plays .
In the later part of the 18th and through the 19th century , criticism centred on debates over the moral message of the play . Actor and playwright David Garrick 's 1748 adaptation excluded Rosaline : Romeo abandoning her for Juliet was seen as fickle and reckless . Critics such as Charles Dibdin argued that Rosaline had been purposely included in the play to show how reckless the hero was , and that this was the reason for his tragic end . Others argued that Friar Laurence might be Shakespeare 's spokesman in his warnings against undue haste . With the advent of the 20th century , these moral arguments were disputed by critics such as Richard Green Moulton : he argued that accident , and not some character flaw , led to the lovers ' deaths .
= = = Dramatic structure = = =
In Romeo and Juliet , Shakespeare employs several dramatic techniques that have garnered praise from critics ; most notably the abrupt shifts from comedy to tragedy ( an example is the punning exchange between Benvolio and Mercutio just before Tybalt arrives ) . Before Mercutio 's death in Act three , the play is largely a comedy . After his accidental demise , the play suddenly becomes serious and takes on a tragic tone . When Romeo is banished , rather than executed , and Friar Laurence offers Juliet a plan to reunite her with Romeo , the audience can still hope that all will end well . They are in a " breathless state of suspense " by the opening of the last scene in the tomb : If Romeo is delayed long enough for the Friar to arrive , he and Juliet may yet be saved . These shifts from hope to despair , reprieve , and new hope , serve to emphasise the tragedy when the final hope fails and both the lovers die at the end .
Shakespeare also uses sub @-@ plots to offer a clearer view of the actions of the main characters . For example , when the play begins , Romeo is in love with Rosaline , who has refused all of his advances . Romeo 's infatuation with her stands in obvious contrast to his later love for Juliet . This provides a comparison through which the audience can see the seriousness of Romeo and Juliet 's love and marriage . Paris ' love for Juliet also sets up a contrast between Juliet 's feelings for him and her feelings for Romeo . The formal language she uses around Paris , as well as the way she talks about him to her Nurse , show that her feelings clearly lie with Romeo . Beyond this , the sub @-@ plot of the Montague – Capulet feud <unk> the whole play , providing an atmosphere of hate that is the main contributor to the play 's tragic end .
= = = Language = = =
Shakespeare uses a variety of poetic forms throughout the play . He begins with a 14 @-@ line prologue in the form of a Shakespearean sonnet , spoken by a Chorus . Most of Romeo and Juliet is , however , written in blank verse , and much of it in strict iambic pentameter , with less rhythmic variation than in most of Shakespeare 's later plays . In choosing forms , Shakespeare matches the poetry to the character who uses it . Friar Laurence , for example , uses sermon and sententiae forms , and the Nurse uses a unique blank verse form that closely matches colloquial speech . Each of these forms is also moulded and matched to the emotion of the scene the character occupies . For example , when Romeo talks about Rosaline earlier in the play , he attempts to use the Petrarchan sonnet form . Petrarchan sonnets were often used by men to exaggerate the beauty of women who were impossible for them to attain , as in Romeo 's situation with Rosaline . This sonnet form is used by Lady Capulet to describe Count Paris to Juliet as a handsome man . When Romeo and Juliet meet , the poetic form changes from the Petrarchan ( which was becoming archaic in Shakespeare 's day ) to a then more contemporary sonnet form , using " pilgrims " and " saints " as metaphors . Finally , when the two meet on the balcony , Romeo attempts to use the sonnet form to pledge his love , but Juliet breaks it by saying " Dost thou love me ? " By doing this , she searches for true expression , rather than a poetic exaggeration of their love . Juliet uses monosyllabic words with Romeo , but uses formal language with Paris . Other forms in the play include an epithalamium by Juliet , a rhapsody in Mercutio 's Queen Mab speech , and an elegy by Paris . Shakespeare saves his prose style most often for the common people in the play , though at times he uses it for other characters , such as Mercutio . Humour , also , is important : scholar Molly <unk> identifies at least 175 puns and wordplays in the text . Many of these jokes are sexual in nature , especially those involving Mercutio and the Nurse .
= = = Psychoanalytic criticism = = =
Early psychoanalytic critics saw the problem of Romeo and Juliet in terms of Romeo 's impulsiveness , deriving from " ill @-@ controlled , partially disguised aggression " , which leads both to Mercutio 's death and to the double suicide . Romeo and Juliet is not considered to be exceedingly psychologically complex , and sympathetic psychoanalytic readings of the play make the tragic male experience equivalent with sicknesses . Norman Holland , writing in 1966 , considers Romeo 's dream as a realistic " wish fulfilling fantasy both in terms of Romeo 's adult world and his hypothetical childhood at stages oral , phallic and oedipal " – while acknowledging that a dramatic character is not a human being with mental processes separate from those of the author . Critics such as Julia <unk> focus on the hatred between the families , arguing that this hatred is the cause of Romeo and Juliet 's passion for each other . That hatred manifests itself directly in the lovers ' language : Juliet , for example , speaks of " my only love sprung from my only hate " and often expresses her passion through an anticipation of Romeo 's death . This leads on to speculation as to the playwright 's psychology , in particular to a consideration of Shakespeare 's grief for the death of his son , Hamnet .
= = = Feminist criticism = = =
Feminist literary critics argue that the blame for the family feud lies in Verona 's patriarchal society . For Coppélia Kahn , for example , the strict , masculine code of violence imposed on Romeo is the main force driving the tragedy to its end . When Tybalt kills Mercutio , Romeo shifts into this violent mode , regretting that Juliet has made him so " effeminate " . In this view , the younger males " become men " by engaging in violence on behalf of their fathers , or in the case of the servants , their masters . The feud is also linked to male virility , as the numerous jokes about <unk> aptly demonstrate . Juliet also submits to a female code of docility by allowing others , such as the Friar , to solve her problems for her . Other critics , such as <unk> Callaghan , look at the play 's feminism from a historicist angle , stressing that when the play was written the feudal order was being challenged by increasingly centralised government and the advent of capitalism . At the same time , emerging Puritan ideas about marriage were less concerned with the " evils of female sexuality " than those of earlier eras , and more sympathetic towards love @-@ matches : when Juliet dodges her father 's attempt to force her to marry a man she has no feeling for , she is challenging the patriarchal order in a way that would not have been possible at an earlier time .
= = = Queer theory = = =
A number of critics have found the character of Mercutio to have unacknowledged homoerotic desire for Romeo . Jonathan Goldberg examined the sexuality of Mercutio and Romeo utilising " queer theory " in <unk> the Renaissance , comparing their friendship with sexual love . Mercutio , in friendly conversation , mentions Romeo 's phallus , suggesting traces of homoeroticism . An example is his joking wish " To raise a spirit in his mistress ' circle ... letting it there stand / Till she had laid it and conjured it down . " Romeo 's homoeroticism can also be found in his attitude to Rosaline , a woman who is distant and unavailable and brings no hope of offspring . As Benvolio argues , she is best replaced by someone who will reciprocate . Shakespeare 's procreation sonnets describe another young man who , like Romeo , is having trouble creating offspring and who may be seen as being a homosexual . Goldberg believes that Shakespeare may have used Rosaline as a way to express homosexual problems of procreation in an acceptable way . In this view , when Juliet says " ... that which we call a rose , by any other name would smell as sweet " , she may be raising the question of whether there is any difference between the beauty of a man and the beauty of a woman .
= = = The Balcony Scene = = =
The balcony scene was introduced by Da Porto in 1524 . He had Romeo walk frequently by her house , " sometimes climbing to her chamber window " and wrote " It happened one night , as love ordained , when the moon shone unusually bright , that whilst Romeo was climbing the balcony , the young lady ... opened the window , and looking out saw him " . After this they have a conversation in which they declare eternal love to each other . A few decades later , Bandello greatly expanded this scene , diverging from the familiar one : Julia has her nurse deliver a letter asking Romeo to come to her window with a rope ladder , and he climbs the balcony with the help of his servant , Julia and the nurse ( the servants discreetly withdraw after this ) .
Nevertheless , in October 2014 , Lois Leveen speculated in The Atlantic that the original Shakespeare play did not contain a balcony . The word , <unk> , did not exist in the English language until two years after Shakespeare 's death . The balcony was certainly used in Thomas Otway 's 1679 play , The History and Fall of Caius Marius , which had borrowed much of its story from Romeo and Juliet and placed the two lovers in a balcony reciting a speech similar to that between Romeo and Juliet . Leveen suggested that during the 18th century , David Garrick chose to use a balcony in his adaptation and revival of Romeo and Juliet and modern adaptations have continued this tradition .
= = Legacy = =
= = = Shakespeare 's day = = =
Romeo and Juliet ranks with Hamlet as one of Shakespeare 's most performed plays . Its many adaptations have made it one of his most enduring and famous stories . Even in Shakespeare 's lifetime it was extremely popular . Scholar Gary Taylor measures it as the sixth most popular of Shakespeare 's plays , in the period after the death of Christopher Marlowe and Thomas Kyd but before the ascendancy of Ben Jonson during which Shakespeare was London 's dominant playwright . The date of the first performance is unknown . The First Quarto , printed in 1597 , says that " it hath been often ( and with great applause ) plaid <unk> " , setting the first performance before that date . The Lord Chamberlain 's Men were certainly the first to perform it . Besides their strong connections with Shakespeare , the Second Quarto actually names one of its actors , Will Kemp , instead of Peter in a line in Act five . Richard Burbage was probably the first Romeo , being the company 's actor , and Master Robert Goffe ( a boy ) the first Juliet . The premiere is likely to have been at " The Theatre " , with other early productions at " The Curtain " . Romeo and Juliet is one of the first Shakespearean plays to have been performed outside England : a shortened and simplified version was performed in Nördlingen in 1604 .
= = = Restoration and 18th @-@ century theatre = = =
All theatres were closed down by the puritan government on September 6 , 1642 . Upon the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 , two patent companies ( the King 's Company and the Duke 's Company ) were established , and the existing theatrical repertoire divided between them .
Sir William Davenant of the Duke 's Company staged a 1662 adaptation in which Henry Harris played Romeo , Thomas Betterton Mercutio , and Betterton 's wife Mary <unk> Juliet : she was probably the first woman to play the role professionally . Another version closely followed Davenant 's adaptation and was also regularly performed by the Duke 's Company . This was a tragicomedy by James Howard , in which the two lovers survive .
Thomas Otway 's The History and Fall of Caius Marius , one of the more extreme of the Restoration adaptations of Shakespeare , debuted in 1680 . The scene is shifted from Renaissance Verona to ancient Rome ; Romeo is Marius , Juliet is Lavinia , the feud is between patricians and plebeians ; Juliet / Lavinia wakes from her potion before Romeo / Marius dies . Otway 's version was a hit , and was acted for the next seventy years . His innovation in the closing scene was even more enduring , and was used in adaptations throughout the next 200 years : Theophilus Cibber 's adaptation of 1744 , and David Garrick 's of 1748 both used variations on it . These versions also eliminated elements deemed inappropriate at the time . For example , Garrick 's version transferred all language describing Rosaline to Juliet , to heighten the idea of faithfulness and downplay the love @-@ at @-@ first @-@ sight theme . In 1750 a " Battle of the Romeos " began , with Spranger Barry and Susannah Maria Arne ( Mrs. Theophilus Cibber ) at Covent Garden versus David Garrick and George Anne Bellamy at Drury Lane .
The earliest known production in North America was an amateur one : on 23 March 1730 , a physician named <unk> Bertrand placed an advertisement in the Gazette newspaper in New York , promoting a production in which he would play the apothecary . The first professional performances of the play in North America were those of the Hallam Company .
= = = 19th @-@ century theatre = = =
Garrick 's altered version of the play was very popular , and ran for nearly a century . Not until 1845 did Shakespeare 's original return to the stage in the United States with the sisters Susan and Charlotte Cushman as Juliet and Romeo , respectively , and then in 1847 in Britain with Samuel Phelps at Sadler 's Wells Theatre . Cushman adhered to Shakespeare 's version , beginning a string of eighty @-@ four performances . Her portrayal of Romeo was considered genius by many . The Times wrote : " For a long time Romeo has been a convention . Miss Cushman 's Romeo is a creative , a living , breathing , animated , ardent human being . " Queen Victoria wrote in her journal that " no @-@ one would ever have imagined she was a woman " . Cushman 's success broke the Garrick tradition and paved the way for later performances to return to the original storyline .
Professional performances of Shakespeare in the mid @-@ 19th century had two particular features : firstly , they were generally star vehicles , with supporting roles cut or marginalised to give greater prominence to the central characters . Secondly , they were " pictorial " , placing the action on spectacular and elaborate sets ( requiring lengthy pauses for scene changes ) and with the frequent use of tableaux . Henry Irving 's 1882 production at the Lyceum Theatre ( with himself as Romeo and Ellen Terry as Juliet ) is considered an archetype of the pictorial style . In 1895 , Sir Johnston Forbes @-@ Robertson took over from Irving , and laid the groundwork for a more natural portrayal of Shakespeare that remains popular today . Forbes @-@ Robertson avoided the <unk> of Irving and instead portrayed a down @-@ to @-@ earth Romeo , expressing the poetic dialogue as realistic prose and avoiding melodramatic flourish .
American actors began to rival their British counterparts . Edwin Booth ( brother to John Wilkes Booth ) and Mary McVicker ( soon to be Edwin 's wife ) opened as Romeo and Juliet at the sumptuous Booth 's Theatre ( with its European @-@ style stage machinery , and an air conditioning system unique in New York ) on 3 February 1869 . Some reports said it was one of the most elaborate productions of Romeo and Juliet ever seen in America ; it was certainly the most popular , running for over six weeks and earning over $ 60 @,@ 000 ( equal to about $ 1 @,@ 067 @,@ 000 today ) . The programme noted that : " The tragedy will be produced in strict accordance with historical propriety , in every respect , following closely the text of Shakespeare . "
The first professional performance of the play in Japan may have been George Crichton <unk> 's company 's production , which toured to Yokohama in 1890 . Throughout the 19th century , Romeo and Juliet had been Shakespeare 's most popular play , measured by the number of professional performances . In the 20th century it would become the second most popular , behind Hamlet .
= = = 20th @-@ century theatre = = =
In 1933 , the play was revived by actress Katharine Cornell and her director husband Guthrie McClintic and was taken on a seven @-@ month nationwide tour throughout the United States . It starred Orson Welles , Brian Aherne and Basil Rathbone . The production was a modest success , and so upon the return to New York , Cornell and McClintic revised it and for the first time , the play was presented with almost all the scenes intact , including the Prologue . The new production opened in December 1934 with Ralph Richardson as Mercutio and Maurice Evans as Romeo . Critics wrote that Cornell was " the finest Juliet of her time " , " endlessly haunting " , and " the most lovely and enchanting Juliet our present @-@ day theatre has seen " .
John Gielgud 's New Theatre production in 1935 featured Gielgud and Laurence Olivier as Romeo and Mercutio , exchanging roles six weeks into the run , with Peggy Ashcroft as Juliet . Gielgud used a scholarly combination of Q1 and Q2 texts , and organised the set and costumes to match as closely as possible to the Elizabethan period . His efforts were a huge success at the box office , and set the stage for increased historical realism in later productions . Olivier later compared his performance and Gielgud 's : " John , all spiritual , all spirituality , all beauty , all abstract things ; and myself as all earth , blood , humanity ... I 've always felt that John missed the lower half and that made me go for the other ... But whatever it was , when I was playing Romeo I was carrying a torch , I was trying to sell realism in Shakespeare . "
Peter Brook 's 1947 version was the beginning of a different style of Romeo and Juliet performances . Brook was less concerned with realism , and more concerned with translating the play into a form that could communicate with the modern world . He argued , " A production is only correct at the moment of its correctness , and only good at the moment of its success . " Brook excluded the final reconciliation of the families from his performance text .
Throughout the century , audiences , influenced by the cinema , became less willing to accept actors distinctly older than the teenage characters they were playing . A significant example of more youthful casting was in Franco Zeffirelli 's Old Vic production in 1960 , with John Stride and Judi Dench , which would serve as the basis for his 1968 film . Zeffirelli borrowed from Brook 's ideas , altogether removing around a third of the play 's text to make it more accessible . In an interview with The Times , he stated that the play 's " twin themes of love and the total breakdown of understanding between two generations " had contemporary relevance .
Recent performances often set the play in the contemporary world . For example , in 1986 the Royal Shakespeare Company set the play in modern Verona . <unk> replaced swords , feasts and balls became drug @-@ laden rock parties , and Romeo committed suicide by hypodermic needle . In 1997 , the Folger Shakespeare Theatre produced a version set in a typical suburban world . Romeo sneaks into the Capulet barbecue to meet Juliet , and Juliet discovers Tybalt 's death while in class at school .
The play is sometimes given a historical setting , enabling audiences to reflect on the underlying conflicts . For example , adaptations have been set in the midst of the Israeli @-@ Palestinian conflict , in the apartheid era in South Africa , and in the aftermath of the Pueblo Revolt . Similarly , Peter Ustinov 's 1956 comic adaptation , Romanoff and Juliet , is set in a fictional mid @-@ European country in the depths of the Cold War . A mock @-@ Victorian revisionist version of Romeo and Juliet 's final scene ( with a happy ending , Romeo , Juliet , Mercutio and Paris restored to life , and Benvolio revealing that he is Paris 's love , <unk> , in disguise ) forms part of the 1980 stage @-@ play The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby . Shakespeare ’ s R & J , by Joe <unk> , spins the classic in a modern tale of gay teenage awakening . A recent comedic musical adaptation was The Second City 's The Second City 's Romeo and Juliet Musical : The People vs. Friar Laurence , the Man Who Killed Romeo and Juliet , set in modern times .
In the 19th and 20th century , Romeo and Juliet has often been the choice of Shakespeare plays to open a classical theatre company , beginning with Edwin Booth 's inaugural production of that play in his theatre in 1869 , the newly reformed company of the Old Vic in 1929 with John Gielgud , <unk> Hunt and Margaret Webster , as well as the Riverside Shakespeare Company in its founding production in New York City in 1977 , which used the 1968 film of Franco Zeffirelli 's production as its inspiration .
In 2013 , Romeo and Juliet ran on Broadway at Richard Rodgers Theatre from September 19 to December 8 for 93 regular performances after 27 previews starting on August 24 with Orlando Bloom and <unk> Rashad in the starring roles .
= = = = Ballet = = = =
The best @-@ known ballet version is Prokofiev 's Romeo and Juliet . Originally commissioned by the Kirov Ballet , it was rejected by them when Prokofiev attempted a happy ending , and was rejected again for the experimental nature of its music . It has subsequently attained an " immense " reputation , and has been choreographed by John Cranko ( 1962 ) and Kenneth MacMillan ( 1965 ) among others .
In 1977 , Michael <unk> 's production of one of the play 's most dramatic and impassioned dance interpretations was debuted in its entirety by San Francisco Ballet . This production was the first full @-@ length ballet to be broadcast by the PBS series " Great Performances : Dance in America " ; it aired in 1978 .
= = = Music = = =
At least 27 operas have been based on Romeo and Juliet . The earliest , Romeo und Julie in 1776 , a Singspiel by Georg Benda , omits much of the action of the play and most of its characters , and has a happy ending . It is occasionally revived . The best @-@ known is Gounod 's 1867 Roméo et Juliette ( libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré ) , a critical triumph when first performed and frequently revived today . Bellini 's I <unk> e i <unk> is also revived from time to time , but has sometimes been judged unfavourably because of its perceived liberties with Shakespeare ; however , Bellini and his librettist , Felice Romani , worked from Italian sources — principally Romani 's libretto for Giulietta e Romeo by Nicola <unk> — rather than directly adapting Shakespeare 's play . Among later operas there is Heinrich <unk> 's 1940 work Romeo und Julia .
Roméo et Juliette by Berlioz is a " symphonie <unk> " , a large @-@ scale work in three parts for mixed voices , chorus and orchestra , which premiered in 1839 . Tchaikovsky 's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy @-@ Overture ( 1869 , revised 1870 and 1880 ) is a 15 @-@ minute symphonic poem , containing the famous melody known as the " love theme " . Tchaikovsky 's device of repeating the same musical theme at the ball , in the balcony scene , in Juliet 's bedroom and in the tomb has been used by subsequent directors : for example Nino Rota 's love theme is used in a similar way in the 1968 film of the play , as is Des 'ree 's Kissing You in the 1996 film . Other classical composers influenced by the play include Henry Hugh Pearson ( Romeo and Juliet , overture for orchestra , Op. 86 ) , Svendsen ( Romeo og Julie , 1876 ) , Delius ( A Village Romeo and Juliet , 1899 – 1901 ) , Stenhammar ( Romeo och Julia , 1922 ) , and <unk> ( Incidental Music to Romeo and Juliet , Op. 56 , 1956 ) .
The play influenced several jazz works , including Peggy Lee 's " Fever " . Duke Ellington 's Such Sweet Thunder contains a piece entitled " The Star @-@ Crossed Lovers " in which the pair are represented by tenor and alto saxophones : critics noted that Juliet 's sax dominates the piece , rather than offering an image of equality . The play has frequently influenced popular music , including works by The Supremes , Bruce Springsteen , Tom Waits , Lou Reed , and Taylor Swift . The most famous such track is Dire Straits ' " Romeo and Juliet " .
The most famous musical theatre adaptation is West Side Story with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim . It débuted on Broadway in 1957 and in the West End in 1958 , and became a popular film in 1961 . This version updated the setting to mid @-@ 20th @-@ century New York City , and the warring families to ethnic gangs . Other musical adaptations include Terrence Mann 's 1999 rock musical William Shakespeare 's Romeo and Juliet , co @-@ written with Jerome Korman , Gérard <unk> 's 2001 Roméo et Juliette , de la Haine à l 'Amour and Riccardo Cocciante 's 2007 Giulietta & Romeo .