Romeo and Juliet Free Act 1 pdf

I have several hundred glossy, spiral bound R&Js, but they are only for Canada and the US. They are very durable and cost 12.95 each, plus shipping and taxes. Email me if you want some. They are exactly the same text as the pdf. They were shelved as I built this website!

Teachers/Directors,
Here is the table of contents, and some acting notes. They can be quite detailed, and are worth reading before you begin the unit.

The R&J guide is a day-to-day approach where the Montagues and Capulets begin the day in spoken competitions. We then reconstitute into an ever-evolving cast, constantly refining the text through practice and suggestions. As we read/play aloud, we experience, and learn from the thoughts and emotions of these passionate characters. Since the Nurse and the Friar have been vacuumed so severely, the young people dominate the SOL version. Unabridged, the play quickly becomes repetitive, adolescent sexual banter almost smothering the plot! Vacuumed to 57%, the heart of the story reveals itself clearly, a tale of two astonishingly, creative lovers.

I constructed this guide specifically for grade 9s -18 classes over 6 weeks, but teachers can also work at the pace best suited to their students. It is filled with hundreds of specific daily acting suggestions for all the characters; competitions, little tests, a few crosswords etc. What it needs most is a teacher/director who listens well and is kind and encouraging at suggesting the thoughts that might inspire Will’s words. Since the teacher will likely judge of the oral competitions, and be most familiar with the SOL text, he/she should be a good listener and suggester. Sometimes a gifted and motivated class will take the lead with daily readings. You all have the same text. Teachers’ primary task is to cast creatively, schedule judiciously and insist on daily readings! I have blank lists for all that. The Out Loud is what is essential to this unit! Then, encourage everyone. Let no student remain silent! Everyone must make sound! Being an Elizabethan play, burps and farts count! Perhaps, finally, make a recording others, like friends and parents, may enjoy, gives the class a solid goal.

If you get stuck, use my recording. It’s clear. And, as I remember creating this guide, it is an action-packed six weeks. If you stick close to it - the daily readings, the tests and puzzles and various oral activities and competitions - there will be no wasted time. The organization and class-preparation you put into the 6 weeks, especially the daily out loud readings, will greatly determine the success and pleasure your students experience. You have an Olympics to produce! You have scenes to read aloud EVERY DAY. You’ll have lots of your own ideas; so will the kids. The value and colour of individual words should be constantly debated, refined and tested.

Your prep work will be important. I suggest always dividing up scene synopses, giving a few students the chance to hear their own voices. I’d also prepare by casting in scene-groups, putting different students together. I’d also practice, myself. It takes courage for everyone to play aloud. I’d prepare a few party-pieces for your class. You mustn’t be shy; you are encouraging out loud! Go ahead and try some of Mercutio’s Queen Mab speech, for instance. I know it to be a fine challenge. It is also a good speech to divide up among several students. And don’t just ask for cold readings; give your students warning to prepare. Always be fair! And if some students are obviously better actors than you, point out why. The answer will almost always be their clearer thinking! And don’t let supposed purists complain about the SOL text not being the unabridged real thing. It has far more text than the DiCaprio film. Besides, the unabridged R & J is tedious! The SOL version works.

And please remember that Shakespeare is meant to be played, not endlessly commented upon! Shakespeare never hired any critics, just actors to play parts like Hotspur from Henry lV, part two. That is not a job for a scholar, but a player.

Over the years, during visiting high schools for workshops, I have found unassuming-looking girls at the back of classes just bursting with poetry. They have, on occasion, produced deeply moving Juliets. The way a class regards such a fellow student, afterwards, made many a snowy highway worth it. Sometimes truly talented people are unaware of their gifts until given the public opportunity to employ them. I hope you find such performers lurking in your back rows. They won’t always be the show-offs, but often quiet, habitual readers, those who revel in the power and the beauty of language.

Best wishes,

Rodger