TEXT AND PERFORMANCE General Editor: Michael Scott The series is designed to introduce sixth-form and under graduate students to the themes, continuing vitality and per formance of major dramatic works. The attention given to production aspects is an element of special importance, re sponding to the invigoration given to literary study by the work of leading contemporary critics. The prime aim is to present each playas a vital experience in the mind of the reader - achieved by analysis of the text in relation to its themes and theatricality. Emphasis is accord ingly placed on the relevance of the work to the modern reader and the world of today. At the same time, traditional views are presented and appraised, forming the basis from which a creative response to the text can develop. In each volume, Part One: Text discusses certain themes or problems, the reader being encouraged to gain a stronger perception both of the inherent character of the work and also of variations in interpreting it. Part Two: Performance examines the ways in which these themes or problems have been handled in modern productions, and the approaches and techniques employed to enhance the play's accessibility to modern audiences. A synopsis of the play is given and an outline of its major sources, and a concluding Reading List offers guidance to the student's independent study of the work. PUBLISHED Peer Gynt and Ghosts Asbjorn Aarseth The Duchess of Malfi and The White Devil Richard Cave Hamelt Peter Davison The Winter's Tale R. P. Draper The Crucible and Death of a Salesman Bernard Dukore Tamberlaine and Edward II George Geckle Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Jumpers and The Real Thing Robert Gordon Volpone A. P. Hinchliffe The Tempest David L. Hirst Romeo and Juliet Peter Holding The Birthday Party and The Caretaker Ronald Knowles Much Ado About Nothing Pamela Mason Measure for Measure Graham Nicholls The Merchant of Venice Bill Overton Richard II Malcolm Page Twelfth Night Lois Potter King Lear Ga.mini Salgado Antony and Cleopatra Michael Scott Doctor Faustus William Tydeman Murder in the Cathedral and The Cocktail Party William Tydeman Midsummer Night's Dream Roger Warren Henry the Fourth, Parts 1 and 2 T. F. Wharton Macbeth Gordon Williams Othello Martin L. Wine Waiting for Godot and Happy Days Ka tharine Worth ROMEO AND JULIET Text and Performance PETER HOLDING M MACMILLAN © Peter Holding 1992 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 33-4 Alfred Place, London WCIE 7DP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. First published 1992 by MACMILLAN EDUCATION LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world ISBN 978-0-333-51912-7 ISBN 978-1-349-11363-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-11363-7 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Typeset by Footnote Graphics, Warminster, Wiltshire 5 CONTENTS Acknowledgements 7 General Editor's Preface 9 Plot Synopsis and Sources 11 PART ONE: TEXT 1 Introduction 13 2 Language and Imagery 16 3 The lover's companions and the dramatic context 23 4 Amorous death: Act v, Scene iii 29 5 Conclusion: Word and Image 36 PART TWO: PERFORMANCE 6 Introduction 42 7 Franco Zeffirelli, Old Vic Theatre, 1961 45 8 Terry Hands, RSC, 1973 51 9 Trevor Nunn and Barry Kyle, RSC, 1976 57 10 Michael Bogdanov, RSC, 1986/7 63 11 Terry Hands, RSC, 1989/90 68 12 General Conclusions 73 Reading List 76 Index ofN ames 78 TO EDITH 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS All quotations from Romeo and Juliet are taken from the New Penguin Shakespeare edition (1967), edited by T. J. B. Spencer. Other quotations from Shakespeare are from The Complete Works (1951), edited by Peter Alexander. I express sincere thanks to Dr. Marian J. Pringle, Senior Librarian, and her staff at The Shakespeare Centre, Stratford upon-Avon for their endless patience and assistance with the promptbooks and production materials for all of the RSC productions. I wish also to thank Professor Ejner Jensen, of the University of Michigan, and Professor Stanley Wells, of the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham, who both helped to shape my thinking on this play and all matters Shakespearian. 9 GENERAL EDITOR'S PREFACE For many years a mutual SuspICIOn existed between the theatre director and the literary critic of drama. Although in the first half of the century there were important exceptions, such was the rule. A radical change of attitude, however, has taken place over the last thirty years. Critics and directors now increasingly recognise the significance of each other's work and acknowledge their growing awareness of inter dependence. Both interpret the same text, but do so according to their different situations and functions. Without the direc tor, the designer and the actor, a play's existence is only partial. They revitalise the text with action, enabling the drama to live fully at each performance. The academic critic investigates the script to elucidate its textual problems, under stand its conventions and discover how it operates. He may also propose his view of the work, expounding what he considers to be its significance. Dramatic texts belong therefore to theatre and to literature. The aim of the 'Text and Performance' series is to achieve a fuller recognition of how both enhance our enjoyment of the play. Each volume follows the same basic pattern. Part One provides a critical introduction to the play under discussion, using the techniques and criteria of the literary critic in examining the manner in which the work operates through language, imagery and action. Part Two takes the enquiry further into the play's theatricality by focusing on selected productions of recent times so as to illustrate points of contrast and comparison in the interpretation of different directors and actors, and to demonstrate how the drama has worked on the modern stage. In this way the series seeks to provide a lively and informative introduction to major plays in their text and performance. MICHAEL SCOTT 11 PLOT SYNOPSIS AND SOURCES In Verona an old feud breaks out between two families, the Capulets and the Montagues. The Prince, Escalus, unable to control the two parties, threatens death to anyone who again disturbs the peace. Romeo, son to Montague, reveals his infatuation for Rosaline and is teased for his romantic excesses by his friends Benvolio and Mercutio. By chance the three learn that Capulet intends to have a feast and they decide to attend, masked and uninvited. During the course of the festivities Romeo sees Juliet, the only child of Capulet and the two fall instantly in love. Despite the danger, Romeo gains access to the garden ofJ uliet's house and the two declare their love for one another, separated by the height of the balcony at which Juliet stands. The next day, with the assistance of Juliet's nurse and their confessor, Friar Laurence, the two are secretly married. Soon after Romeo meets Juliet's cousin Tybalt, who challenges him to a duel. He declines but Mercutio accepts the challenge in his place. In an attempt to stop the fight Romeo steps in between the two and Mercutio is killed in the confusion. Romeo avenges the death by killing Tybalt and must then go into hiding. The Prince banishes Romeo, who takes the Friar's advice and goes to Mantua. After being told by her father that she must marry Paris, a relative of the Prince, Juliet goes in despair to Friar Laurence. The Friar gives her a sleeping potion which mimics death. He plans that after she is buried she will revive and secretly be reunited with Romeo. The Friar sends a message to Romeo which is delayed causing him to hear instead that Juliet is dead. He obtains poison and decides to commit suicide by her side. Returning to Verona he encounters Paris at the entrance to the tomb. In the ensuing fight Paris is killed. Romeo then takes the poison, kisses the 'dead' Juliet and dies. Juliet wakes moments later, just as Frirar Laurence arrives on the scene in a vain attempt to avert tragedy. She stabs herself. The two families gather over the dead bodies and are reconciled after hearing the full story from the Friar.