Two revolutionary styles in theatre history had an extraordinary impact on the audience: Greek and Renaissance. The theatrical art originated in Greece, where well-known even today playwrights gave characters lives and the opportunity to be remembered by viewers. The Greece theatre is a progenitor of the theatre as it is nowadays. Another exquisite style of theatrical art is often associated with Shakespeare’s times and one of his most famous plays, “Romeo and Juliet”. The tragedy that touches the hearts of many viewers even today was created during the Renaissance period and had its peculiar features. Combining two marvelous styles of art would definitely leave a strong impression on the audience. “Romeo and Juliet” staged in Greek style would astonish the spectators and make them feel confused but still delighted.
The famous play would have another image and staging when done in Greek style. First of all, the Greek theater focuses on the one-setting pattern of presenting events (Meineck 54). Therefore, all the tragic scenes which usually take place in different territorial areas, for example, Montague and Capulet residences dialogues, will be reconstructed somehow to meet those requests. Probably, the scene will be divided into two parts to show different houses. The next peculiarity of Greek theater is unchanging time on the stage. Romeo and Juliet in Greek style also will have a one-time development, which can sometimes be misleading for the audience.
There is a specific feature of Greek performance that is well-known all around the world. The actor in Greek theatre always wore masks (Meineck 83). Considering that the “Romeo and Juliet” play is highly emotional, the audience will have difficulties identifying the intensity of the characters’ feelings if they wear masks. Moreover, to perform the play in Greek style, actors will have to express emotions through their movements and voice. Another peculiar feature of the Greek theatre is that showing violence was prohibited (Meineck 105). Renaissance style, on the contrary, included many scenes of violence. The blood feud was the most efficient way to depict the character’s sufferings and development in Shakespeare’s plays in general and in “Romeo and Juliet” in particular. Thus, many scenes would be removed or replaced with less violent ones to fit the Greek theatre standards.
The chorus always accompanied any Greek theatrical performances and served as a convenient tool to express the actors’ emotions hidden behind the mask throughout the singing. The renaissance theater did not necessarily include the chorus. However, some plays required musical accompaniment. Thus, the choir will be an integral part of the “Romeo and Juliet” play in Greek style. The last feature of Greek theatre to mention is the religious connotations of the plot (Meineck 86). “Romeo and Juliet” play is concentrated on political references rather than religious ones. As a result, the plot and many events will have religious-concentrated patterns. According to the analysis, it is evident that even though the story, plot, and characters stay the same, the change in the style of “Romeo and Juliet” will have a significant difference from the original one. As a result, the impression on the audience will also be quite different.
Therefore, the question of how the audience’s impression will change due to the modifications described above arises. First of all, the viewer will be shocked because of the appearance of the actors. Masks will provoke viewers to detach themselves from the characters. However, the mysterious images will attract more attention and keep people engaged because they will have the opportunity to add the actor’s facial expression details themselves (Meineck 100). Even though the performance will seem strange at first, later, the audience will get the emotional pleasure of watching the familiar characters from the other perspective. The changed time and space development of the plot can confuse people due to well-known historical factors. However, when performed logically, the story still can stay clear for many people.
Shakespeare’s fans will not readily accept the absence of violence in the play. Many central ideas of “Romeo and Juliet” are depicted thanks to the contrast between good and evil, and the best way to express those is to include cruel blood scenes. Thus, the performance can even be dull for some spectators. The director needs to find a decent replacement for the plot’s violent turning points to keep viewers’ attention. The choir will positively impact the audience because spectators are usually fascinated when the characters express their emotions through singing (Meineck 167). Religious connotations are likely to leave a negative impression on the spectator. The typically tragic and romantic play is hard to associate with religion. Thus, the “Romeo and Juliet” in the Greek theatre style can have both negative and positive on the modern viewer because tastes differ.
Combining typical renaissance story and Greek style of theatrical art leads to the creation of the new play, which will definitely cause a mighty furor among the nowadays spectators. On the one hand, some will never accept such an unusual interpretation of the familiar Shakespeare’s story, focusing only on the negative changes. On the other hand, many will admire the mysterious and unique way of presenting characters and their emotions. Tastes differ indeed, but the Greek style interpretation of the “Romeo and Juliet” will cause many discussions, which means be a big hit.
Work Cited
Meineck, Peter. Theatrocracy: Greek Drama, Cognition, and the Imperative for Theatre. Routledge, 2018.