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Part of
Romeo and Juliet in European Culture
Edited by Juan F. Cerdá, Dirk Delabastita and Keith Gregor
[Shakespeare in European Culture 1] 2017
► pp. 227–246

Chapter 11
Romeo and Juliet in British culture

In fresh performance by The Royal Shakespeare Company

| Bucknell University

Between 1947 and 2000, the Royal Shakespeare Company alone staged fifteen productions of Romeo and Juliet. To date (2015), three more mises en scène at the RSC can be counted: Nancy Meckler’s (2006), Neil Bartlett’s (2008), Rupert Goold’s (2010). Goold’s staging was touted by Michael Billington “as exciting a revival since Zeffirelli stunned us with his verismo in 1960.” Russell Jackson, in examining aspects of Romeo and Juliet across a half-century of RSC productions, organises his commentary into the following sections: “Fair Verona,” “Two Households,” “Ghostly Sire, Gallant Spirit,” “Star-Crossed Lovers,” “Towards Catastrophe.” An attempt will be made to (re)read Goold’s production in parallel fashion, highlighting points of contact mostly with other RSC stagings of the play.

Keywords: William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet , Royal Shakespeare Company, Rupert Goold, Franco Zeffirelli
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • “Fair Verona”
  • “Two households”
    • Capulet
    • Capulet’s wife
    • The Nurse
  • “Ghostly sire, gallant spirit”
    • Friar Laurence
    • Mercutio
  • “Star-cross’d lovers”
    • Meeting: Capulet’s feast
    • At Juliet’s window
    • Marriage and separation
  • “Towards catastrophe”
    • In Juliet’s bedroom
    • In Mantua
    • In the Capulets’ monument
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 14 December 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sec.1.12fis
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