Romeo and Juliet in Fewer Words, Words, Words
- 50 Minutes
- 5+ Females 5+ Males Minimum 10 Maximum 20+
Classroom Use
$11.00 – $75.00
This adaptation of “Romeo and Juliet” by Robyn Hilt reduces the original but retains the major plot points and beauty of the poetry. A great choice for classroom presentation. All of the major scenes and plot points are intact, as well as the humor of the Nurse and Mercutio. Students take one role and develop that character through analyzing motives and decisions.
Play Details
Overview
One reason young (and older) audiences find Shakespeare difficult is that our attention spans have shortened over the years. We have learned to listen for sound bites. This adaptation of “Romeo and Juliet” by Robyn Hilt pares down the original but retains the major plot points and beauty of the poetry.
“Romeo & Juliet in Fewer Words, Words, Words” is an ideal choice for classroom presentation. All of the major scenes and plot points are intact, as well as the humor of the Nurse and Mercutio. Students take one role and develop that character through analyzing motives and decisions; in other words, they learn to analyze and interpret the play from the inside out. Deals with themes of betrayal, courtship, family relationships, finding love, young love, making choices, teen rebellion and teen suicide,
Robyn Hilt states “Important plot points haven’t been taken out. Whose fault is it anyway? Romeo’s? Lord Capulet’s? The Friar? The Prince? It’s the story of two teenagers in love, yes but it is also a story of teenage hormones, which is what makes it fun for high schoolers. I also, as a theatre teacher, feel strongly that plays aren’t meant to be read but performed. My students understood the play much better after performing it as readers theatre. They were cast as one character and they were able to create a relationship with that character. “Despite the fact that this was written as a readers theatre, it is still a very performable version of Romeo & Juliet. It would be a great project for drama clubs who wanted to have a traveling Shakespeare play that is short enough to perform in a class period.”
From the Play
ACT I PROLOGUE Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows Do with their death bury their parents’ strife.
SCENE I. Verona. A public place. In this scene are everyone EXCEPT Juliet, Nurse, Peter, Paris, and Mercutio. Enter SAMPSON and GREGORY, of the house of Capulet, armed SAMPSON Gregory, o’ my word, we’ll not carry coals. GREGORY No, for then we should be colliers. GREGORY To move is to stir; and to be valiant is to stand: therefore, if thou art moved, thou runn’st away.
Enter ABRAHAM and BALTHASAR
SAMPSON A dog of that house shall move me to stand:
I will take the wall of any man or maid of Montague’s.
GREGORY Draw thy tool! here comes two of the house of the Montagues.
SAMPSON My naked weapon is out: quarrel, I will back thee.
GREGORY How! turn thy back and run? I will frown as I pass by, and let them take it as they list. SAMPSON Nay, as they dare. I will bite my thumb at them; which is a disgrace to them, if they bear it. ABRAHAM Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?
SAMPSON No, sir, I do not bite my thumb at you, sir, but I bite my thumb, sir.
GREGORY Do you quarrel, sir?
SAMPSON If you do, sir, I am for you: I serve as good a man as you. ABRAHAM No better.
Enter TYBALT
GREGORY Say ‘better:’ here comes one of my master’s kinsmen.
SAMPSON Yes, better, sir. ABRAHAM You lie.
SAMPSON Draw, if you be men. Gregory, remember thy swashing blow.
They fight. Enter BENVOLIO
Related products
- $9.00 – $50.00
The Moral of the Story
- 30 minutes
- 2 Males/2Females; Total 8
Aesop’s Fable The Tortoise and the Hare meets an African Ibo legend . This one-act comedy play script for kids reveals what inquiring minds have always wanted to know – the inside scoop behind Aesop’s most famous Fable and why tortoises have cracked, lumpy shells.
Read More - $5.00 – $40.00
91366
- 15 minutes
- 1 Male, 2 Females, Max/Min cast 3
Competitions, Holocaust Theme, Mother-Daughter, Simple Set
A one-act, 3-character drama. An elderly Holocaust survivor encounters a rebellious teenager in a tattoo parlor. Melanie is determined to get a butterfly tattoo against her mother’s wishes. Sarah is removing her own concentration camp tattoo–91366. Great for competition one-acts, an evening of short plays, or to introduce Holocaust Literature, parent-teen relationships or survival.
Read More - $9.00 – $75.00
Ophelia Lives!
- 45 Minutes
- 3 Males, 2 Females, Max/Min Cast 5
Depression, Simple Set, Small Cast, Teen Suicide, Touring
This one-act play for teens deals honestly and openly with depression and suicidal impulses among teens. Set backstage in a high school theater, a high school drama class is rehearsing Hamlet and personal issues–cutting, eating disorders and low self-esteem–that are seldom discussed begin to emerge after the teacher discovers a suicide note.
Ideal for middle school and high school students. Easy to tour with a simple set. PDF available.
Read More - $11.00 – $90.00
A Colonial Christmas
- 110 Minutes
- 9 Males, 4 Females, Max Cast 20+, Min Cast 16
Comedy, Fantasy, Large Cast
In A Colonial Christmas, the Hartley family has decided to downsize the holidays which seem to have lost their significance. However an old barrel organ is a portal to Christmas in Revolutionary days for a renewal of faith and the Christmas spirit.
Read More