As reflected in its title, the central question that drives this book is “what’s in a balcony scene?”, particularly that which appears in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Exploring its representation in a number of adaptations of Shakespeare’s play, this volume shows that there are a number of fresh angles from which to look at this topic, which, in turn, provide unique insights into the balcony scene, As such, the book will appeal to anyone with an interest in Shakespeare, from researchers and students to the general reader.

Four hundred years after William Shakespeare’s death, his works continue to not only fill playhouses around the world, but also be adapted in various forms for consumption in popular culture, including in film, television, comics and graphic novels, and digital media. Drawing on theories of play and adaptation, Playfulness in Shakespearean Adaptations demonstrates how the practices of Shakespearean adaptations are frequently products of playful, and sometimes irreverent, engagements that allow new ‘Shakespeares’ to emerge, revealing Shakespeare’s ongoing impact in popular culture. Significantly, this collection explores the role of play in the construction of meaning in Shakespearean adaptations—adaptations of both the works of Shakespeare, and of Shakespeare the man—and contributes to the growing scholarly interest in playfulness both past and present. The chapters in Playfulness in Shakespearean Adaptations engage with the diverse ways that play is used in Shakespearean adaptations on stage, screen, and page, examining how these adaptations draw out existing humour in Shakespeare’s works, the ways that play is used as a pedagogical aid to help explain complex language, themes, and emotions found in Shakespeare’s works, and more generally how play and playfulness can make Shakespeare ‘relatable,’ ‘relevant,’ and entertaining for successive generations of audiences and readers.

Revisiting Shakespeare’s Italian Resources is about the complex dynamics of transmission and transformation of the Italian sources of twelve Shakespearean plays, from The Two Gentlemen of Verona to Cymbeline. It focuses on the works of Sir Giovanni Fiorentino, Da Porto, Bandello, Ariosto, Dolce, Pasqualigo, and Groto, as well as on commedia dell’arte practices. This book discusses hitherto unexamined materials and revises received interpretations, disclosing the relevance of memorial processes within the broad field of intertextuality vis-à-vis conscious reuses and intentional practices.

The Screen Adaptations series provides an in-depth look at how classic pieces of literature have been adapted for screen. It assesses the ways in which alternative screen interpretations offer up different readings of the original text as well as the methodologies and approaches of filmmakers. Each title in the series collects together a vast array of study material, critical insight and thought-provoking comparisons - from literary context to the afterlife of the screen versions. Shakespeare on Film is a huge area of study and Romeo and Juliet is one of his most popular plays with many teachers using film versions as a way of approaching the text. Focussing in the main on West Side Story and Baz Lurhmann's Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, this is a unique and comprehensive insight into the adaptation process providing a vital study aid for students.

The tragedy of Romeo and juliet - the greatest love story ever.

Offering a comprehensive look at the strategies that filmmakers have employed in adapting Shakespeare's plays to the cinema, this book investigates what the task of Shakespearean adaptation reveals about film in general and focuses on patterns and approaches shared by various cinematic works. Buhler provides concise histories of each general strategy, which include non-illusionistic cinema, documentary interpretations, mass-market productions, transgressive and transnational cinema, and approaches that see film as either distinct from the stage or as an extension of theatrical traditions. The book spans more than a century of film, starting with the 1899 King John and extending through Michael Hoffman's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Julie Taymor's Titus, and later releases.