production designed

The play Romeo and Juliet have many different versions including many different movie versions too. They are many versions because directors and writers are always updating the play to suit the audience and time period, this makes it easier for the audience to understand because Shakespeare was writing in 1597 and if an audience in 2016 was to read it they wont understand some parts and words.

Baz Luhrmann who is a director adapted and directed his own modern day version Romeo and Juliet, the way the filmed was designed and portrayed was very impressive because it was more appealing to the modern day audience. It was set in the 1990s and the director altered the script to suit the time for example it was set in a place called Verona Beach and the Capulet and Montague were two rivals gangs. I think this was a clever idea and by making this small but vital adaptation to the play it made it more engaging for the audience to watch. Also things like instead of swords to fight they used guns and the guns were called sword which was another clever idea by the director.

The whole concept of the play remained the same and the director followed the main story line, as for costume they were different the actors wore normal clothes like what style or fashion that period was that was the clothes they wore for example they wore suits depending on their status. I think the music was very important to the scene and the music that was used went perfectly with the scene for example the scene were Romeo and Juliet first met, the music that was playing in that scene was smooth/slow music it really set the mood and atmosphere for the scene it also helped build up the tension in the scene. Also the scene where Mercutio dies is another great example where the music captures the audience/viewer attention.

On the other hand if a theatre company did Romeo and Juliet the changes they make would vary from the changes the film made, they would stick to the script in Shakespearean language. When I saw Romeo and Juliet performed at the Royal Albert Hall, the style that they had done it in was creative and interesting unlike the movie they had dancing and singing scenes. The theatre portrayed the play in a more artistic way than the movie.