 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 . 
