PRODUCTION NARRATIVE aka how would this play look on stage if I was the director?

Casting: The two main characters of this play are of course Romeo and Juliet. I would definitely try to pursue Kate Winslet to play Juliet. She is the main character of the movie Titanic, where she played an amazing role. She showed how greatly she can express love as well as pain and death of her loved one. Titanic´s plot is very similar to Romeo and Juliet´s plot and because Kate Winslet has made a fine job playing Rose, I believe she would be stunning also in this tragedy. For the part of Romeo I would probably choose Orlando Bloom. He is a great actor, played in many romantic movies as well as tragedies. His performance was unbelievable especially in the movie Troy. Also, when you look deep into his eyes, you can see that he is a romantic type and this role would fit him. I am not sure which actors would play the other roles of the play, but I definitely know who would play Tybalt. Tybalt is a negative character, fighting, cursing, etc. This is why I would definitely choose Cam Gigandet for the role because he plays a gangster in every movie that I have seen with him and he is great at it. For Juliet´s nurse I would have Meryl Streep play it because she looks like a nursing type.

Stage design: Due to the fact, that the play is set in different places, I would have to change the stage design quite often. At first, the story begins in the streets of Verona with a brawl between the Capulets and the Montagues. In the background I would place a miniature symbol of Verona so that everyone in the auditorium would right away know where the story is set. This symbol would probably be the Verona Arena of Opera, which is known worldwide. Because the scene is taking place in the streets, I would have to symbolize this somehow. On one side of the stage I would put three full dumpsters. On the other side I would put a kind of poster-like picture of Italian architecture houses. What I have in mind by this is kind of the houses that we can find for example in Venice. For the second scene by which I mean the scene at the ball where Romeo and Juliet meet for the first time I would only change the stage design completely. I would make a half circle wall-like drawing of a nice modern ball room. In the middle of the stage would be iron stares leading up to a balcony dotted with red roses. After this scene I would again make a half circle wall-like drawing of the inside of a church, where Romeo and Juliet get married. For the last scene, I would only make a meter high bed in the middle of the stage. The bed would be all red, candles all over the floor and Juliet lying in the bed.

Lighting: I do not think that lighting in this story is so important. It is a tragedy and that means that most of it should be played in a dim light. The only light during the play should be on the actors so that the audience sees them clearly. Maybe in the ball room scene, the lighting could be a little brighter because it is a positive moment of the play and the lighting should express that. Also, in the lasts scene when Romeo comes inside the room, where he sees Juliet lying on the bed there should be a lot of light on Juliet at the beginning and when Romeo comes towards her, the light should slowly dim into numbness.

Sound effects:  The sound effects should probably be changing depending on the scene. Of course the music is only going to be instrumental, mostly using piano. During the beginning brawl the music is going to be deep and heavy and loud. This creates the tension in the play for the audience. During the ball, the music is going to me slow and light and quite. These transactions of the music will happen all throughout the play depending on whether the scene is romantic or sad.

Costuming: I decided to make the play modern. All the characters are going to be wearing modern nowadays clothes like for example jeans and sneakers. What´s more, because most characters are divided into the Montague or Capulet families, each actor is going to wear the coat of arms of their belonging family, so that the audience can easily recognize everyone. They are going to wear this coat of arms on their shirt right over their heart in order to short that they have their families best interests at heard. Due to the fact that there is a lot of sword fighting, the characters are not going to fight with swords but with guns named SWORD. Just like it was in the latest Romeo and Juliet movie. I believe this will make it seem more realistic to today’s audience.

Props: I think that I have listed everything important and I am really not going to use any special props. The only prop I am going to use is that both Romeo and Juliet are going to wear crowns in order for the play to be a little different that other plays and so that it is more interesting. The audience is then going to think that these two are something special ale their love story is something special as well.

Presentation: Overall, I would like to present the play in a modern style, but I still want to keep the historical view inside of it as well. It is obvious, that this story would nowadays be very rare to happen, but I do not want the audience to think that the play is fiction. I want to them to feel the love that Romeo and Juliet had and to believe that they can experience the same thing that these two characters have. Yes, the play does end tragically, but I believe that this is a positive point. Nowadays, every Hollywood movie ends with a happy end. From the first scene you can predict the whole movie and know exactly how happily it will all end. That is why I think that the audience would appreciate this play because you cannot predict what is going to happen, you expect that there will be a happy end and at the end come a shock. I have seen hundreds of movies, but only a couple of them still come to my mind. One of them is Romeo and Juliet especially because of the ending. When someone sees think play, they are going to remember it forever and that is what I am aiming for in my play.