I always have done this assignment after watching 3 different versions of the balcony scene on video: -Franco Zefferelli's classic -Baz Luhrmann's (sp?) modern -West Side Story's musical Then as a class we decipher what elements a director has to "play with" when adapting a script such as costume, setting (time era/location), blocking, choice of actors, lighting, language, etc. After this general class discussion, and analyzing how and why the directors portrayed the scenes the way they did, I assign the individual promptbooks Koty Zelinka ******************************* Romeo and Juliet Promptbook - The Balcony Scene Promptbooks in acting give the actors instructions on "how" to play a scene - to say the words, to move, to interact with fellow players. These instructions are often in parentheses, or italics, and are used to emphasize certain key phrases or actions within a play. For your promptbook of the balcony scene, you are to make a director's decision on how it should be played out. However, your goal is to "modernize," or change the scene, in costume, setting, and language. You must first determine the conflict your modernization will reflect, just as the conflict between Romeo and Juliet stemmed from their families' hate of one another. Then you are to determine the time period and style the language and costumes/setting will take. Begin your promptbook excerpt with a setting and costume description. This should include several lines explaining the conflict between the young lovers. This total description should be 3/4 of a page to a page long.The rest of your promptbook will have modernized language to fit your scene, along with actor's directions/prompts in parentheses. Take care to not use the language as written by Shakespeare - you may use some of the words, but the goal is to write the words in "plain" English. Do your best, but most of all, have FUN!!! ************************** Example: Romeo and Juliet are two lovers during the disco era. Romeo is black; he wears an afro and butterfly-collared shirts. Juliet is white; she is a disco queen with dirty blonde feathered hair, micro-mini skirts, and spiked heels. They met at a dance club, and have been in love ever since, but their families don't approve of interracial marriage. The balcony scene takes place in an apartment building, where Romeo is looking up at her third-story window. Romeo: (hiding behind a rusty VW bug in the street) What is that heavenly glow comin' thru my groovy chick's window? It still doesn't compare to my sweet sunshine, Juliet! Juliet: (leaning out the window in a sequin tube top, her hair in pig-tails) Why's my Romeo's family gotta hate me coz I'm a white girl? I don't care that he's black - if he were white, or hispanic, or any other nationality, he'd still be my fine-lookin' Romeo. Nothing would change that. He would still smell just as sweet as his Cool Water Cologne . . .