William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet has endured for centuries, captivating audiences with its timeless themes of love, fate, and conflict. However, what happens when we take this classic tragedy and reinterpret it for a modern audience through parody? That’s precisely what our parody project aimed to explore—breathing new life into a legendary story by mixing humour and creativity to give the story a new and exciting touch.
When we were first introduced to this assignment, I was over the moon. Hearing from the other class how much they enjoyed this project made me equally enthusiastic about starting it. From the beginning, our side goal was to make ours better, and I think we accomplished that. But before we could even think of crafting a story, we had to first learn about the one we were adapting.
To bring this project to life, we first immerse ourselves in the story as well as Shakespeare’s language, dissecting the poetic beauty and dramatic weight of the original text. Through reading the translation and acting it out in class, we examine all the ways differently people interpret the play, allowing us to form our creative vision. Alongside this analysis, we do some home learning and in-class discussions on the play, using literary elements and devices to support our arguments. Understanding the way Shakespeare painted a picture of Romeo and Juliet, helped us greatly as we transitioned into the brainstorming process.
The creation of the idea and the creation processes of the story went hand in hand. Our class spent 2-3 class days bouncing idea after idea around, trying to land on the perfect theme for our parody. In the end, we decided on America vs Canada, where the two star-crossed lovers of the people in power fell in love. Everyone loved it, and when we got split into our acts, I immediately got to writing. It only took a week until we had a fully written script, and after a few run-throughs to make sure everyone was happy, we assigned roles and started memorizing.
Before we knew it, performance day was here. In my opinion, it couldn’t have gone better. Sure, people messed up some lines or stage cues, but our script was funny, and we overall had a great time performing it. By using parody, we transformed a tragic love story into a comedic performance that still conveyed its central themes, proving that even centuries-old literature can feel fresh, relevant, and enjoyable today. Through humour, we highlighted the absurdity of conflicts based on loyalty and identity while making Romeo and Juliet more accessible to a modern audience. Our analysis of Shakespeare’s language, symbolism, and storyline helped shape our creative vision and allowed us to craft a script that balanced comedy with the play’s original themes. In the end, our performance demonstrated that parody can breathe new life into a classic, making it both entertaining and thought-provoking.