WHAT HAST THOU LEFT US WITH TO
REMEMBER THEE BY?
"A LIFE-TIME OF PLAYS SUCH
AS..."
ROMEO & JULIET
Written By: Zehra Nasirali
For: Mr. J. Macleod
COURSE: ENG-3AI
Date: 16 October, 1998
A play that is well-known all over the
world, whose story line never tires its audiences that people take great
pleasure and honour in playing the main characters - 'Romeo and Juliet'.
The Shakespearean language is the soul of the uniqueness of William
Shakespeare's well thought our plays.
The imagination of the viewers back then compensated for the missing
scenery, costumes and theatrical effects. Unfortunately, our minds today are
being robbed of this opportunity every time technology unfolds new tricks.
Franco Zefirelli's version of 'Romeo
and Juliet' was indeed well acted. My
Hat is
off especially to the 'Nurse', for creating and living in her boisterous
presence, and to ‘Mercutio’, for playing his role with boundless energy,
expression and idiocy. Although the dialogues were in Shakespearean language,
they were well spoken with fluency, normality and it consisted of great flow
and appropriate expressions. The dialogues were actually comprehensible because
of these well added components. Moreover, I think that the way Shakespeare
penned his script was in a very rich and descriptive way, with a lot of
metaphors and synonyms: ' . . . beauty's ensign yet is crimson in thy lips and
in thy cheeks, and death's pale flag is not advanced there.' (V, iii, 94-96)
Moreover, a great deal of meaning is embedded in his words.
The costumes worn by the female actors
were certainly of an orthodox style and accordingly fitted to this time period.
However, the male costumes were terribly colour coordinated; no one ever wore
two different coloured leotards especially a pink with a purple or a green with
a yellow! In those days, they definitely did wear leotards, but not in such
bright colours and definitely not two different colours. It seems that this
wacky colour coordination played on their minds and was responsible for the way
they acted. It was very obvious that the ladies were more mature than the men,
for the ways the men would act and run
around childishly, were so dilly-dally and girlish that even teenage
boys and girls do not act that way these days.
For example, in Act II, Scene iv, the nurse labelled Mercutio as a
‘saucy merchant who was so fully of his ropery.' Nowadays, you will never find
a ‘scurvy knave' in an open crowd as you would in, Shakespeare's plays, but
then again this is just one of William's entertaining plays that captures the
attention of the readers or viewers.
Amongst these primary factors are ones of
similar importance: music, lighting and the stage sets. The music and lighting
were superb. The Elizabethan music greatly added to the effect of the old times
- it was romantic, suspenseful and had a nice tune to it. The lighting is also
another important key factor. It made us aware of the time of day. This was especially significant to Romeo’s
life as he had to escape from Verona the very morning of his honeymoon, ‘Else
when he’s found, that hour is his last.’ (III, i, 195) Not forgetting the ‘set’, which is another
important element, Franco Zefirelli converted his thoughts into wonderful
scenes. Juleite’s backs stairs to her
bedroom, the small pathways in which Romeo chases Tybald after learning the
death of Mercutio and the tomb in which Juliet, Tybalt and others lie are just
a few of the sets that attracted my eyes.
Needless to say, Franco Zefirelli’s
version of ‘Romeo and Juleit’ is one in which has been incorporated a lot of
thought, creativity and effort. I
recommend that every Grade 11 see this version because it focuses on the story
and the intense passion between the lovers, and not on their attractive looks.