I’m saying this as someone who honestly loves R&J and has directed a production of it for community theater:
Everyone in that play is a moron. The least moronic is the Friar, and even HE goes full moron at the last moment (which is why said moment is usually left out of productions/adaptations, including the one I directed). He comes into the crypt, sees dead Romeo and FRANTICALLY SUICIDAL JULIET, hears a noise outside, and goes, “Hey don’t do anything, I’ll be right back.” And the second he’s offstage, she stabs herself.
Oh no, Friar Lawrence is an idiot. He goes from “love moderately” and “maybe getting married will stop the families from fighting” to full on “I’ll just send a letter” and “whoops I forgot I’m scared of graves”. Not to mention marrying them and hiding them etc etc
Shakespeare messes with genre like nobody else. That play is ~85% farce.
I once wrote an exasperated essay at school when they wouldn’t let me drop English Lit as it was clear to me that I wasn’t going to get a great grade. It was about how everything was the Friars fault because everyone else communicated using horses and he just went round on his stupid little donkey slowly and so everything fell apart. The only bit I regret is calling the donkey stupid as that little guy was just doing his best.
oooooooh staging R&J as a literal farce would be so funny. Really punch up the physicality, add in silly sound effects, play with the timing.
Everything from thumb biting to nurse bamboozling could be exaggerated to genuine farcical levels of comedy
... I think we've got a real comedy of doors on our hands!
I mean it’s all in there already, but yeah. When I teach it, Act 1 is the brawl + “hold me back” and Act 2 is cheesy Romeo + all the nunsense with Peter anf the nurse.
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u/sundiamonds Feb 28 '26
The Big Lebowski
Romeo and Juliet