One of the reasons Shakespeare’s works are so remarkable is that his stories are universal and timeless. This characteristic allows audiences to relate to his stories even today and gives directors flexibility in creating adaptations and variations on his work. For your final project of the Shakespeare Unit, you will create your own unique adaptation of scenes from Romeo and Juliet. Our final project will consist of two parts: a performance and a Director’s Promptbook showing your work and preparation. You will earn points for both the performance (or video) and the Director’s Promptbook, but the majority of the points will be awarded for the Director’s Promptbook.  

First, in your house teams, you will come up with a name for your acting company (for example, Shakespeare’s company was called the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, later the King’s Men). Then, your team will choose one scene from the play (This will be determined in class) to adapt for your project. 

Next, as a group, you need to agree on a unique Production Concept. In theatre, a Production Concept is your creative interpretation of the script, which unifies all of the design elements of the production (set, costumes, etc.). For example, the movie 10 Things I Hate About You took Shakespeare’s play Taming of the Shrew and completely adapted it by setting it in a modern high school;  She’s the Man does the same with Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.  Remember, for the balcony scene adaptations, pairs chose a pirate concept, texting concept, modern high school, etc.  These are examples of Production Concepts that affect the interpretation of the story while still remaining true to the original story.  

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Finally, your group will determine which "job" each member of the group will fulfill for the entirety of the project. Jobs include: Director, Artistic Director, Writer and Historian. While everyone will help with the whole project, individual members will be experts on certain components. Each job consists of responsibilities for the promptbook as well as for the production.