During the English Renaissance, William Shakespeare wrote plays in three distinct genres: tragedy, comedy and history. While his historical plays occasionally borrow dramatic elements from his tragedies, Shakespeare establishes a clear division between the lighthearted atmosphere found in A Midsummer Night's Dream and the heartbreaking desperation that pervades Hamlet. However, the Folger Theater has bridged this divide with fervor. Romeo and Juliet, a play that was once the epitome of tragic theater, is no longer pigeonholed into the narrow confines of tragedy in mood and tone. Although the original dialogue and themes remain unchanged and the play is still classically classified as a tragedy, the first act of Folger's adaptation plays out like a comedy, with lively characterizations not typically acknowledged in the original text. Then, the second act returns to long-awaited misery, starkly reminding the audience that the show is, indeed, a tragedy. This abrupt and sudden transformation in tone earned the production the title “drama.” Romeo and Juliet successfully creates an atmosphere in which laughter and sorrow can coexist, an environment that the Bard could not have foreseen. The plot of Shakespeare's original play remains intact in Folger's adaptation; Romeo and Juliet is still a story of star-crossed lovers, whose secret romance challenges the hateful conflict that plagues their respective families and ultimately ends in the couple's death. But while the plot itself is unchanged, the speed at which it progresses is tweaked and sped up. As production designer Megan Raham described, there is a driving force in the show that continually moves the plot forward. This forward momentum is achieved by using multiple pieces of…half the paper…taken from the actors or actions occurring on stage. The Folger Theatre's Romeo and Juliet may be "two hours in traffic," but it's dynamic storytelling and charming characters create the illusion of fast-paced action, especially in Act I, where the interplay of multiple scenes is most important. Some audience members may appreciate the contrast in tone between Act I and Act II and embrace it. Shakespearean purists may loathe the comic antics of the first act and the immaturity used to characterize the titular characters. However, the production, unquestionably, interprets Shakespeare's work in an original context while maintaining the most important plot themes and events. Considering that many adaptations of Romeo and Juliet simply reinforce archaic representations of the story or distort the underlying meaning of the entire work, it is worth remembering this production..
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