Characters
Places and Dates
Themes and Genres
Shakespeare
The Globe
100
What is the main male character of the play?
Romeo
100
What is Verona?
It is the famous city where the characters live.
100
What is the play about ? Give as many themes as you can remember.
Shakespeare's play is about love - even passion - and hate, murder, life and death, happiness and sadness, problems between parents and teenagers/children, to name a few. The themes of time and fate are also dealt with.
100
What is Shakespeare's first name?
It is William. Loving language games [=puns], William Shakespeare often plays with his first name within his plays with his short name 'Will'.
100
What was the Globe Theatre?
It was the name of the theatre where Shakespeare's company used to play. A first version was built in 1599. Then, after a fire, a second version was built in 1614. A modern reconstruction of the Globe, named 'Shakespeare's Globe', opened in 1997, from the site of the original Globe Theatre.
200
What is the main female character ?
Juliet
200
What is Stratford-upon-Avon?
It is the place where William Shakespeare was born on 26 April 1564, under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
200
What are the adjectives we can use to qualify the play?
Depending on the passage, 'Romeo and Juliet' can be quiet and romantic, full of passion, violent, exciting, funny and extremely sad.
200
When did he die?
He died in 1616. So in 2016, we commemorated the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death. Lots of events were organised [see www.shakespeare400.org/, shakespeares-england.co.uk/shakespeare-2016, http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/news/william-shakespeare-400th-anniversary-how-is-the-uk-celebrating-a6971621.html, http://www.biography.com/news/william-shakespeare-400th-anniversary-facts, http://www.shakespearelives.org/]
200
What is peculiar with the Globe ?
What strikes me on this picture is that it appears to be round and without any roof in the centre of it.
300
What is the boy's relationship with the Montagues ?
Romeo is the only son of the Montagues.
300
What happened more than four hundred years ago, around 1594?
'Romeo and Juliet' by William Shakespeare was written.
300
What is the genre this play is labeled under?
This play traditionally belongs to the 'tragedy' genre. Indeed it full title is 'The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'. However there are some comic characters (e.g. the Nurse and Mercution) and comic passages that are here for comic relief.
300
Was Shakespeare only a playwright [= a writer of plays]?
No, he wasn't. He also acted in his plays.
300
Which actors used to play female parts in Shakespeare's time?
In Shakespeare's time, female parts were played by male actors. So, Juliet was played by a young boy.
400
What is the girl's relationship with the Capulets?
Juliet is the only daughter of the Capulets.
400
What happened in 1562?
A story about two young lovers who killed themselves [=ill-fated lovers, star-crossed lovers] was written by Arthur Brooke. Shakespeare wrote his play around this story - that was a long poem. He revisited it. Brooke's poem was based on a French prose version which was in turn based on an Italian tale.
400
Did he only write plays?
No, he didn't. He also wrote famous poems. Especially 'The Sonnets'.
500
What is the relationship between the Montagues and the Capulets?
They are enemies. There is a feud (=a vendetta) opposing the two families.
500
What happened in 1996?
Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' was adapted for the screen as a modern story in a modern setting in Verona Beach in the USA. This film was directed by Baz Luhrmann. Another interesting film adaptation is that of Franco Zeffirelli, released in 1968 and taking place in Italy.
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