A Timeless Tragedy: Why Romeo and Juliet Still Resonates in Theatre
Valerie Caniglia, Guest Editorial
“And never was a story of more woe
Then this of Juliet and her Romeo.”
These are some of the most heartbreaking words ever written on a page.
We know the Shakespeare story:
In the span of three days, boy meets girl, they fall in love, the family feud ruins their chances of happiness, and, to be together, they end up killing themselves.
It’s a timeless tale of love, romance, murder, deception, violence, and passion. Arguably, it’s the greatest love story of all time.
But here’s the question: why, all of a sudden, are so many productions of Romeo and Juliet popping up around the world? This past year alone, we had the Jamie Lloyd-directed Romeo and Juliet on the West End that starred Tom Holland (not to mention the racism and misogyny that ran rampant on the internet when it was announced Francesca Amewudah-Rivers, a Black actress, was to be his Juliet), an upcoming Broadway version of the play starring West Side Story actress Rachel Zegler and Kit Connor, and many regional, college and community theater companies producing their versions including the American Repertory Theatre, Wagner College, Mason Gross School of the Arts, and Asolo Repertory Theatre.
I directed a reading of it last year on Zoom with my theater company, of actors worldwide, and as a fundraiser to support anti-book-banning organizations (please click here for the link).
Personally, I’ve had an on-again, off-again love for Romeo and Juliet. There have been times I really enjoyed the story and other times where I’ve said aloud, “Oh, you idiots! What are you doing?!” while reading it for the seventeenth time. I’m thirty-three, single, living in a world where historic events happen almost daily.
I find comfort in the stories I grew up with and loved, including Romeo and Juliet.
I won’t lie; I watched the version I directed for inspiration as I wrote this article. Romeo, played by Steven Todd Smith, is giving his last goodbyes to Juliet, played by Jacqueline Youm.
And I say the same thing every time: Romeo and Juliet’s timing is terrible.
It’s just absolutely awful.
Seriously, Romeo just needed to hold out for one more minute. Even thirty seconds would have made a difference.
It’s like what they say in the musical Hadestown, yes? “It’s an old tale from way back when…and we’re gonna sing it again!” It’s almost like we indulge in Romeo and Juliet, hoping that the ending will change this time around. We root for the lovers desperately trying to find peace in the madness.
Who isn’t trying to do that nowadays?
I wish I were joking.
The Hillsborough School District curriculum only allows certain passages of the play to be read alongside Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Hamlet. This was partly due to the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” law passed in 2022.
There is no reason for this play to be banned, censored, or challenged anywhere. The “violence” is minimal, and there are no premarital relations; they happen after during their WEDDING NIGHT. It’s not even explicitly written; it’s implied! A director can make it tasteful or create or change it as they see fit.
Based on my research, the school curriculum has not walked back on this policy, even though the law has allowed changes due to settlements between the state and various civil rights attorneys who challenged it. It also appears that copies of Romeo and Juliet are in the Hillsborough school library catalog.
But I beseech any officials or teachers down there, and for that matter, across the country, who may be reading this: do not ban this play.
Do not challenge this play.
Do not censor this play.
If you do, you will be taking away the opportunity to showcase a story that, at its core, is simply about true love, something that exists and should never be stamped out. If students read Shakespeare, it could bring beauty, poetry, and art into their lives in a way they never expected.
And honestly, with the way the world is right now, we need something beautiful. We need Romeo and Juliet.
What about this play- this particular play- brings us back to reading and performing it over and over? Many works by William Shakespeare can be done at any theater; The Tempest, King Lear, Much Ado About Nothing, Richard III, and, of course, Hamlet all come to mind. Why Romeo and Juliet?
Could it be because the passionate, youthful rebellion that Romeo and Juliet enact all because they want to be together is inspiring to the more jaded adult?
Could we, as adults, be trying to recapture the beauty and innocence of first love?
Could it be escapism? We go back to this story because it is so well known that we, generally speaking, find joy and familiarity in it in a world gone insane.
Or do theaters perform Romeo and Juliet because it’s an easy sell? From what I understand, it doesn’t have copyright law attached to it, and it can be interpreted and conceptualized any way a Director and team want. We’ve had versions in theaters during COVID lockdown, versions with minimalist sets, versions that take place in the respective time period, versions with guns and drugs, versions with gender-swapped characters, and so on.
And with every version produced, one fact remains the same: the story itself is timeless. Like all things, I imagine there will be a time when popularity dies down (or, in one horrible scenario, the play is banned outright in the future. Fingers crossed it never comes to that).
But think about how amazing it will be when the story resurfaces after we’re dust in the wind and the world rediscovers this maddening, beautiful, thought-provoking story about a love that will live in infamy. The cycle goes on.
Perhaps Romeo and Juliet got their happy ending after all.