I am reading Romeo and Juliet this week; I haven't read it for a good 9 or 10 years, and I wanted to get back into it and research in depth regarding the play. My big question is this: why is it so popular--maybe even the most popular Shakespeare play of all? I want to, once again, look at a modern presentation of the play, so I am going to watch the 1996 film adaptation of the play starring Leonardo DiCaprio.In the movie, the Montague's and Capulet's are represented by two major business empires, and they fight with guns instead of swords. I heard that BYU's theater department did a Romeo and Juliet play based in the "Gilded Age," and I'm curious to see how that play was received and compare it to this modern film adaptation. Did anybody go see that play last semester? What were your thoughts?
