Balcony Scene Rewrite

Your task is to write another version of Romeo and Juliet’s balcony scene

(Act 2 Scene 2). You will be writing this as a play which includes setting

description, stage directions, costuming, etc. Your goal is to “modernize”

or change the scene, in costume, setting, and language. You must first determine the conflict your modernization will reflect, just as the conflict between Romeo and Juliet stemmed from their families’ hatred of one another. Then you are to determine the time period and style the language and costumes/setting will take.

Begin your play with a setting and costume description. This should include several lines explaining the conflict between the young lovers. The setting should include when and where and any requirements for the set (furniture, props,). The costumes should include everything the actors will wear.

The rest of this assignment is the words the actors will say (the play). This has to include stage directions in parentheses. Take care not to use the language as written by Shakespeare—you may use some of the words, but the goal is to write the words in “plain” English. Your translation does not need to be a line-by-line translation. You just need to have the general idea of the scene. That being said, please do not omit too much so that we miss the overall effect of the scene.

Example: (no, you can’t copy it) (just the beginning of an example)

Romeo and Juliet are two lovers during the disco era. Romeo is black; he wears an afro and butterfly-collared shirts. Juliet is white: she is a disco queen with dirty blonde feathered hair, micro-mini skirts and spiked heels. They met at a dance club, and have been in love ever since, but their families don’t approve of interracial marriage. The balcony scene takes place in an apartment building, where Romeo is looking up at her third-story window.

Romeo: (hiding behind a rusty VW bug in the street) What is that heavenly glow comin’ thru my groovy chick’s window? It still doesn’t compare to my sweet sunshine, Juliet!

Juliet: (leaning out the window in a sequin tube top, her hair in pig-tails) Why’s my Romeo’s family gotta hate me coz I’m a white girl? I don’t care that he’s black—if he were white, or hispanic, or any other nationality, he’d still be my fine-lookin’ Romeo. Nothing would change that. He would still smell as sweet as John Travolta.

Your ideas for how to modernize this scene: