Drawing on Ovid’s timeless tale of forbidden love (among various sources), itself brilliantly burlesqued by a company of “hempen homespuns” in the dreamy woods of the poet’s dreamlike play, Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in its turn inspired a myriad of other works, crossing over different stage forms and media, from symphonies to ballets, musicals, and films. This Fall, students will be invited on a journey through centuries of rewriting, as we will analyze some of the many lives of the star-crossed lovers. The first half of the semester will be devoted to a close study of Shakespeare’s play and its sources. This will lay the groundwork for analyses of and discussions on various stage and screen works, including Prokofiev’s ballet, as staged and choreographed by Matthew Bourne (Sadler’s Wells Theatre 2019 / Théâtre du Châtelet 2024), Jerome Robbins’s West Side Story (1957/1961), and Franco Zeffirelli's, Baz Luhrmann’s and Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film adaptations (1968, 1996, 2013).
- Enseignant.e: Anne Martina