A pair of star crossed lovers...

Stories live on through their reinvention. It's the retelling of a tale for a changing and evolving culture that keeps the story relevant, ensuring it lives and breathes for a new audience. Stories that have a relevance for us live on and, for Western society, Romeo and Juliet, it seems, is one of those relevant stories.

We all know the tragic story of this pair of star crossed lovers but, had it not been for this tale being reinterpreted time and again for different cultures over the last 2,000 years or so, it might languish as a forgotten fable; of interest only to academics. Indeed, you might argue that we needed it to be interpreted because of the gap it fills; we may have no choice but to reinterpret this tale.

The story of Romeo and Juliet existed before Shakespeare got hold of it. He did not invent the story but, rather, reinvented it for Elizabethan society. Romeo and Juliet draws its narrative strands from a number of different sources stretching back to antiquity. In the form we recognise, it came together as an Italian novella by Matteo Bandello in 1554. It was then translated and reshaped by Arthur Brook into a narrative poem entitled, The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet in 1562. William Painter then published the story as part of a prose collection of Italian tales, Palace of Pleasure in 1582. Some time between 1591 and 1595 Shakespeare got hold of it and turned it into a play.

Since then, Shakespeare's text has been staged countless times and each time it has been reinterpreted in some way to make it relevant to a particular audience. In addition to the stage productions there have been numerous celluloid versions throughout the 20th & 21st Centuries. These have been tailored for different audiences, speaking different languages, living under different circumstances and at different times over the past 100 years or so. Each version reaches out to it's audience in a different way.

Compare Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 film, Romeo and Juliet with Baz Luhrmann's 1996 film, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet. Both are acclaimed productions but look and feel remarkably different. Zeffirelli's is set in Verona in Italy in the late 1500s whilst Luhrmann's is set in Verona Beach in 1996. One looks like an historically accurate version whilst the other looks very modern and updated. Make no mistake, both speak to the audiences of their day: 1968 and 1996.

One of the biggest successes of Luhrmann's is his casting and direction of Harold Perrineau as Mercutio. He's a difficult character to make relevant to a contemporary audience because of the mix that makes up his character: he has an edge of aggression but equally a romantic quality. He is hot headed and impulsive yet insightful and philosophical. He mixes poetic sweetness with the vulgar and the course. Take a look at Luhrmann's take on Mercutio's arrival at the Capulet's party - glorious!

The story of Romeo and Juliet has been retold through operas, ballets, jazz pieces, choral works, symphonies, pop songs and (most famously) musical theatre. Indeed, West Side Story is probably its most popular and original reinterpretation in recent times. The production is iconic, the choreography is breathtaking and the music instantly recognisable. Enjoy!