Private Romeo is about to add to the list of modern Romeo and Juliet retellings. This time the story takes place in a boy’s military academy, and takes the form of, what was it that Bardfilm told us to call it, a meta play? Where the plot has them acting out Romeo and Juliet the play, while simultaneously their lives mirror the story?
If “boys military academy” didn’t give it away for you, I’ll say it up front – this is a gay version of the story – or is it homosexual? I’m not sure what the preferred was is to say that, and I’m copying “gay Romeo and Juliet” right from their homepage so I’m assuming it’s ok. I mentioned Were The World Mine, a gay version of Midsummer, to the creators of the movie who swear to me that theirs is nothing like that.
Judge for yourself, there’s a very well-produced trailer on the site. I like the way they mix up the verse with the story, and am very very pleasantly surprised to see Queen Mab playing a big role. What I can’t figure out from the trailer, though, and maybe this is deliberate – where is the “two households” bit? All I see is boys at a military academy. So, what, is it two different schools? Two different grade levels? I honestly have no idea, I can’t tell which is a Capulet and which is Montague. Is this just a case of the gay gentlemen trying to survive in a world of straights?
Take Juliet out of the picture for a moment, an R&J is one heck of a male bonding story. You’ve got best friends goofing around, you’ve got enemies, you’ve got fights, you’ve got watching each other’s back, you’ve got loyalty. If you want to make a bunch of that take place on a basketball court, why not? Of course, somebody has to play the Juliet role. I think that how they pull that off will be crucial to the success of the storytelling. This is not going to be a case where they name one of the boys Julian or something like that and we’re supposed to figure it out — Juliet is called, by name, multiple times in the trailer. So somebody’s playing that role, as that role.
Now, I wonder if their soundtrack will be as killer as Were The World Mine? 🙂
Category: Shakespeare Plays
William Shakespeare is widely regarded as one of the most influential playwrights in history, and his plays have been performed and studied for centuries. From the timeless tragedy of Romeo and Juliet to the hilarious antics of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare’s plays continue to captivate audiences around the world. Whether you’re a fan of tragedy, comedy, or romance, there’s a Shakespeare play for everyone. So why not revisit these timeless classics and discover the magic of Shakespeare for yourself?
Browse the entire text of Shakespeare’s plays right here on Shakespeare Geek.
Romeo and Juliet Jeopardy
We’re always on the lookout for good Shakespeare games, so here’s a simple online Jeopardy game specifically about Romeo and Juliet Act One, or Act Two. It’s a shame they didn’t do all five acts :).
The game appears to run on the honor system — pick a category and an amount, then read the question. You can then ask to reveal the correct answer, and it’s up to you whether you think you got it. If so, score yourself some points. Doing this, and then hitting continue, will blank that particular square from the board and require that you pick another one.
Cute idea. I could see it having some use in a classroom, perhaps as a study guide. Really, though, it’s just a fancy way to do flashcards.
There’s plenty more to be found at Jeopardy Labs.
15 More Romeo Stories
I always read lists like this. Always. Because you knew never know if it’s going to be a rehash of all the standards we’ve seen before, or if there’s going to be maybe 1 that’s new to me — or, like this list, be almost entirely new content!
We’re talking about adaptations of Romeo and Juliet, by the way. And I can honestly say that of the 15, I had no idea that about 10 of them were Romeo and Juliet stories. That doesn’t mean I’m interested in going to hunt them all down, of course (some are even foreign films), but it’s nice to know there are journalists out there who are still actually researching their stories and not just churning out the cut and paste jobs for Valentine’s Day.
Bonus – #12 on the list is local favorite Sealed With a Kiss, which the reviewer calls, “one of the modern Romeo & Juliet adaptations that most respects the original’s text” and “almost a retelling more than a revision.”
#13 of course is Gnomeo (why else would they be publishing such a list?) and I agree with the summary here, as well:
Nor does it prevent them from arrogantly boasting to their audience that their film, Gnomeo & Juliet, has a more exciting opening than the original play, and a better, happier ending. Apparently gnomes know as little about humility as they do about tragedy.
Why Hamlet Can’t Date You
Twitter keeps its finger on the pulse of what’s important these days by publishing Top Trends. What are people talking about with the most urgency? Sometimes it’s obvious and newsworthy, like Egypt or Tunisia. Other times it’s silly like #IfYouOnlyKnew or #ICantDateYou.
Shakespeare can do trendy. Oh, yes. And silly! With that I give you the Shakespeare version of #ICantDateYou:
“I can’t date you because you’re married to my brother. Who I just poisoned. And honestly your son annoys me.” -Claudius
“I can’t date you, I’m not the man you think I am. In more ways than one.” -Viola
“I can’t date you, you’re like seriously the only other human being besides my dad that I’ve seen in my entire life.” -Miranda
“I can’t date you, you’re my ancient’s wife and you’ll just want me to promote him or something.” -Othello
“I can’t date you, your insanely jealous husband already thinks I knocked you up.” -Polixenes
“I can’t date you, even though I am madly in love with you and did follow you into the forest. Because now that you’re actually paying attention to me you’re kinda creeping me out.” -Helena
“I can’t date you, you look like an ass.” -Titania
“I can’t date you, my wife would kill me. And you. And any witnesses.” -Macbeth
“I can’t date you, I’m Prince of Denmark and my will is not my own. Plus I’ve kinda got a thing for my mom…. what the… who wrote this? Who the hell is Freud?” -Hamlet
“I can’t date you, you’re not Jewish and my dad would freak. Oh, what the heck, let’s do it.” -Jessica (Shylock’s daughter)
Sometimes the funniest stuff comes and goes in the blink of an eye on Twitter, so if you’re not already following ShakespeareGeek (and his partner in crime Bardfilm), what are you waiting for?!
A Hamlet Story
If you read a story (or see a film) and then somebody says, “Did you know that was based on Hamlet?” then what you’ll do is run it back over in your brain and spot all the spots where it wasn’t. Take for example Lion King, which I saw without even considering a Hamlet connection. Where’s the Ophelia character? Polonius? The relationship between Gertrude and Claudius? Some of them are stretched – are Timon and Poomba *really* supposed to be Rosencrantz and Guildenstern? Or is this a case where they said “Uncle kills father, son avenges” and then just made up the rest?
However – what if somebody tells you to read story X, because it’s based on Hamlet. Then you’ve got a whole different ball game. Such is the case with The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. This is not my review of that book, which will come when I finish it. Think of this as the intro material that would have padded my review when I finally did get around to it.
If you know you’re reading a Hamlet story, then every plot device, every new character, you find yourself saying “Who is that supposed to be? What’s happening here?” A grandfather? There’s no grandfather in Hamlet, he must not be relevant. Oh look a random hippie chick? That’s weird. Wonder if she’ll be Ophelia. It’s like a mystery story. When the dad dies – because we all know the dad dies, I hope – you get to sit there and wonder “How did he die? Did the brother do it? Will we learn that the brother did it? What’s the wife’s relationship to the brother?”
Hamlet shows us the dynamics of just about every family relationship – husbands and wives, fathers and sons, fathers and daughters, mothers and sons, brothers (Claudius and King Hamlet), sisters (Laertes and Ophelia). It would be difficult to tell a family drama/tragedy and not be able to say “Oh, yeah, a little bit like Hamlet.” Rivalry between brothers? A son with an absent father figure and mother issues? Family members who don’t want the daughter to go with the man she chooses? All there.
We already know that this is done ad nauseam with Romeo and Juliet – every “they can’t be together, oh the tragedy!” love story ever written has made the comparison.
But are there others? Does anybody ever write an Othello story, or a Macbeth story?