Production Design

If I were to design/direct a Shakespearian play such as Romeo and Juliet, I would first start off by researching the synopsis of the play, themes of the play and the analysis of each character. Moreover, I would watch the original play and then others people’s interpretations of the play to steal ideas or adapt the play and make it my own. From looking at the 1968 film version of Romeo and Juliet, I would keep the location of the play in Verona, Italy and by doing this I would like the white screen in the theatre to be a picture of a famous street that featured in the original play by Shakespeare. In terms of the language, it would be formal modern-day English with a few famous phrases from the original play such as ‘O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?’ and a few others so it can be a mixture of Shakespearian language and modern-day language.  For costumes, I think I would keep the same type of clothing as in the original play however to show that there is a contrast between the Montagues (Romeo’s family) and the Capulets (Juliet’s family) I would like for the main characters to wear big bold coloured clothing such as gold to show their authority in the play so the audience don’t get confused. They would each have a gun as their weapon instead of a sword to make it more dramatic however; I would keep the famous dagger that Romeo stabs himself with. I would keep the lighting at a minimum and only during fight scenes I would like red lights flashing to show danger and violence and for scenes where the main characters, Romeo and Juliet are in a scene together I would like spotlights on them both to emphasize the characters importance in the play. Also, there would be sounds such birds tweeting in scenes with Juliet, gunshot sounds during fight scenes and loud intense music and slow contemporary music throughout the play. As set I would love to build Juliet’s balcony and a tree for Romeo to climb up and reach for Juliet. For props I would like roses to portray the theme of love and romance, guns and a dagger to portray the theme of violence and a bottle of poison as a symbol of death.