Romeo & Juliet
Romeo and Juliet, adaptation of the play by William Shakespeare about two teenage children from warring families who fall in love. Released in 1968, this Academy Award-winning British and Italian joint production was directed by Franco Zeffirelli. Teenage actors Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting star as the star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet. Convinced that their families will never allow their marriage, the two lovers attempt to conceal their affair. When the families learn of their affair and a murder results, Romeo is banished from the city. The lovers develop a wild scheme to feign death and elope. This oft-filmed stage play was notably produced in 1936, 1954, and 1996.
Shakespeare in Love, motion-picture comedy that reimagines the events around the first production of the play Romeo and Juliet (1595?) by English playwright William Shakespeare. Released in 1998, the film won seven Academy Awards. The story is set in London, England, in the mid-1590s. Young Will Shakespeare is struggling with writer's block and is desperate for money. He has promised a play called Romeo and Ethel the Pirate's Daughter to Philip Henslowe, the owner of the Rose Theater, but is finding it difficult to complete the project. Viola De Lesseps, the daughter of a rich merchant, is enchanted by Will's verse. She disguises herself as a man under the name Thomas Kent and wins the part of Romeo at an audition. When Will meets the undisguised Viola, he falls in love with her. They begin a passionate love affair, Will's inspiration blooms, and Romeo and Juliet takes shape. At the time, drama houses featured only men as actors. After Sir Edmund Tilney, Master of the Queen's Revels, discovers that Viola has joined Henslowe's company, he closes the Rose Theater. A rival theater is offered as a venue, and during the performance the actor playing the role of Juliet has problems with his voice. Viola switches parts, and Will and Viola play the roles of Romeo and Juliet before an enraptured crowd.
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