Reduced Shakespeare Company R&J

In our Drama class, we watched videos of the Reduced Shakespeare Company (part one and two found here and here, or you can watch above) performing the shortened version of Romeo and Juliet. I quite enjoyed watching this, as I personally found it hilarious.

There are many "Shakespearean" elements in this performance, for example, the fact that it is being performed on stage. Also, another thing is that it is only played by male actors, and in Shakespearean time, female actresses were not allowed to perform. The actors sometimes broke character and took out to the audience very often, and they used mostly old english, as if very quickly reciting from the script. The costumes seem like those which would have been used before, with the exemption of the shoes. A note can be made to the simple lighting, with sometimes having the spotlight, this can be related to Shakespearean times because they could not manipulate the light back then.

Balcony Scene with Narrator

Although there are "Shakespearean" aspects, this reduced play is also very modern, in the way it is performed. The performance as a whole is around 13 minutes long, and this play is traditionally much longer. Normally, there would be an entire cast to play different characters, and probably no two characters would be played by the same actor. The performance also is much more funny than originally, as there are only two, extremely dramatic, actors and one narrator, who make up the entire thing. For me, it was most funny when the actors would break character, and talk to each other, as if in modern times. I think if this were performed in Shakespearean times, it would not be approved of because not everything is shown in detail, only the important bits and also, the comedic bits probably would not take up. One of my favorite parts is when Romeo and Juliet are supposed to kiss, and the after playing Romeo doesn't mind, but the actor playing Juliet rejected him and backed away, and said something along the lines of "No, ew dude, I'm not kissing you" and then went to the next part. Another bit of comedy that I like is when "Juliet" has the scene on the balcony, and Romeo was all "What are you doing??? o.O" and Juliet said "The Balcony scene" and the balcony was literally Juliet's skirt over the head of the narrator. After that, when Romeo promised his love, they included an audience member, and I do not think some of the things they said about her would have been accepted in Shakespearean times, whereas the audience merely laughed in this performance.

Overall, I do not think this performance would not have been successful in Shakespearean times because it has been adapted to fit our modern world, in my opinion. The comedy, is designed for people in the 21st century to understand, and I think that people would not approve of this type of performance in the Shakespearean times. I think if this were performed a long time ago, some audience members may have taken offense, and it would have had to go much slower, as I think this type of theatre is mooch more modern. Although it wouldn't go down well in Shakespearean times, this play is hilarious in the present and I would love watching any of their plays performed live. :D

Narrator, Romeo and Juliet, for the final words :P