Worksheet 1
Questions: Going to the theatre in Shakespeare’s day
1. How was theatre-going in Elizabethan London different to theatre-going
today? (Group 1)
2. How did the playhouses deal with the fact that they had no artificial
lighting? (Group1)
3. Why did people have to arrive up to an hour before the start of a
performance? (Group 2)
4. What type of place could people have for one penny? (Group2)
5. What type of place did you get for twopence? (Group 2)
6. It was not cheap to go to the theatre. Does this mean that only the rich
went to the theatre? (Group 2)
7. What happened while people were waiting for the play to start? (Group
3)
8. The theatre was small, but the stage was ________________. This
meant that the actors could get quite close to the audience. (Group 3)
9. Why did the audience have to use their imagination? (Group 4)
10. How did Shakespeare help the audience with this? (Group 4)
11. Although theatre companies spent no money on stage scenery, they
spent a lot of money on _______________ and ________________.
(Group 4)
12. Where would the players performing the live music be? (Group 4)
13. How important was going to the theatre in lives of Elizabethan
Londoners? (Group 1)
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Worksheet 2
Activities: Prologue
What’s it all about???
Romeo and Juliet begins with a prologue, in which the audience is told what
will happen in the play. Can you think of any novels or films that begin in a
similar way? Do you think this might spoil the play for the audience?
1. Read the prologue to the play again. Working in pairs, rewrite the
prologue in everyday English, as it might sound if someone wrote in the
year 2004. You might begin with these words:
The story you’re about to watch takes place in a town named Verona…
2. When you have completed your version of the prologue, form into a
group of four students and compare your attempts.

Did you use similar words?

Which parts of the prologue did you find difficult to translate?

From your two attempts choose the words and phrases you all think
work best, and write one prologue for the group.
3.
Select one person from your group to read the prologue aloud in class.
While that person is reading, the other members of the group will make
freeze frames to show what happens in the play. (Freeze frames are
like frozen pictures. You must show the class what happens by moving
into position, as though you were a photograph, and remaining frozen
until the next scene. You will need 6-8 frames.)
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Worksheet 3
Activities: Act 1
Scene 1
1. Rewrite the Prince’s speech on page 7 (lines 75-97) in your own
words. You may either write an 8-10 line summary, or re-write it
line by line.
2. Create a visual representation of romantic love as you see it.
3. Now have a look at what Benvolio and Montague have to say
about Romeo being in love. Read page 8 (lines 109-134). How
does Romeo act when he is in love with Rosaline? (We will
come back to this later when Romeo falls in love with Juliet.)
Scene 2
4. Capulet gives his servant a list of names of people that he would
like to invite to a masked ball at his house that evening. The
servant is to find these people and invite them on behalf of
Capulet. Imagine that Capulet sent out written invitations in
stead of his servant. As a class, then make a list of information
would that he would have to include, then create an invitation for
Capulet’s masked ball (individually, in your exercise book).
5. In scene 2, Capulet tells Paris to wait another two years to marry
Juliet. In scene 3, Lady Capulet tells Juliet that Paris is
interested in marrying her and asks her how she would feel
about this. There seems to be a scene missing between the two
scenes, one in which Capulet tells Lady Capulet to talk to Juliet
about Paris’s proposal. Create a storyboard for this missing
scene. You must have at least 6 boxes. You may choose to use
bubbles for dialogue.
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Worksheet 4
Activities: Extension
1. Write a paragraph (10-15 lines) about the theme of love as it is
presented in the play so far. You should also give your opinion on
how realistic (true to life) this representation is. You may want to
think about the following questions:

Do you think Romeo is really in love with Rosaline? Is this true
love?

How do we know that we are in love with someone?

What is the difference between being in love with someone and
loving someone?

Are there different types of love?
2. Read the following poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Does this
agree with Romeo’s view of love? With yours?
How Do I Love Thee?
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints. I love with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
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Worksheet 5
Activities: Act 2
Scene 2
1. Imagine that you are Juliet returning to your room after the balcony
scene. What would you write in your journal after such an eventful
night? How would you feel? Compose a journal entry that reflects
Juliet’s ecstatic state of mind.
Scene 3
2. How does Friar Lawrence react to Romeo’s request to marry
Romeo and Juliet? Why does he agree to do so?
Scene 4
3. What arrangements do Romeo and the nurse make?
Scene 5
4. Describe Juliet’s mood as she awaits her nurse’s return. Quote
lines which support your observations.
Scene 6
5. Recount in journal form Romeo and Juliet’s wedding from the
perspective of the Friar. What do you observe about their behaviour
and their words? How do you feel about your decision to assist in
this deception?
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Worksheet 6
Activities: Act 3
Scene 1
1. What is the impact of this scene, coming immediately after the two
preceding scenes?
2. Exactly what happens to Romeo between the moment when Tybalt
first speaks to him and the moment when Tybalt is killed?
Scene 2
3. Write down the list of oxymorons which Juliet uses when she
discovers that Romeo has killed her cousin, Tybalt. Explain the
meaning behind 2 of these figures of speech. What does the use of
such language indicate about Juliet’s state of mind?
4. What is Juliet’s conclusion as to where her loyalties lie between her
cousin and her husband? What does such a conclusion show about
her?
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The language of film
Sound
Production Design
Editing
Process
Cinematography
Sound effects
Style: natural, expressionistic.
Master shot: vs cuts
Music
 Score and major themes
 Incidental music
 Songs and lyrics
Colours: warm; cold
Montages: juxtaposition
Wardrobe/costume
Pacing: editing speed
Use of light:
 Back lit,
 Hard/soft
 Natural/artificial.
 Spotlight
Makeup/hair
Sets/location
Sequencing:
 Linearity
 Flash-back
Props
Fade ins, fade outs
Cast:

Bridging shots
Voice over
Silences
Sound bridges


Casting, choice of actors
(stars, type casting)
Style of performance
Body language, gesture,
action, facial expression,
movement, blocking
(proximity)
Mise-en-scène: what you see
within the frame
Symbols
Superimposing
Camera framing:
 Close up, extreme CU
 Medium shot, MS
 Long shot, XLS
Camera focus:
 Deep
 Shallow
 Wide angle lens
 Fish eye lens
 Filters, gels
Camera angles:
 High
 Low
 Aerial

Camera movement:
 Zoom
 Pan
 Tilt
 Tracking
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Worksheet 7
The language of film: Write brief notes on the use of the following in the selected chapter
Sound
Production Design
Editing Process
Cinematography
(sound effects, music, voice over,
silences, sound bridges, etc)
(style, colours, wardrobe/costume,
makeup/hair, sets/location, props,
cast, mise-en-scène, symbols)
(cross-cutting, pacing, editing
speed, sequencing, fades, wipes,
superimposing, bridging shots)
(lighting, camera framing, focus,
angles, movement)
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Worksheet 8
Activities: Act 4
Scene 1
1. Imagine that in a modern-day version of the film, Friar Lawrence sends
Romeo an e-mail to explain his plan for preventing the wedding between
Juliet and Paris. What would he write? How would he explain it to Romeo?
Scene 3
2. In Act 4, Scene 3 (16-17), Juliet says
I have a faint cold fear thrills through my veins,
That almost freezes up the heat of life.
What are the things that she is afraid of? (List 3 things that scare her).
3. Create a visual representation of Juliet’s mood just before she takes the
potion. You may choose to do a collage, a drawing, painting or any other form
of visual representation.
4. Just before she takes the potion, Juliet says:
Farewell. God knows we shall meet again.
I have a cold fear thrills through my veins,
That almost freezes up the heat of life.
I’ll call them back again to comfort me.
Nurse! What should she do here?
My dismal scene I must act alone.
Come vial.
What if this mixture doesn’t work at all?
(Act 4, Scene 3: 15-21)
A modern translation of the same passage reads:
Farewell. God knows when we’ll meet again. A feeling of faint, cold fear
pierces my veins, that almost freezes me to death. I’ll call them back to
comfort me. Nurse! What could she do here? I must act out this dreadful
scene alone. Come, little bottle. What if this mixture doesn’t work at all?
(From Barron’s Simply Shakespeare Series, Romeo and Juliet, Original
Shakespearean Text With a Modern Line-for-Line Translation. 2002. New
York: Barron’s.)
Choose one of the above passages, the one which you think best captures
Juliet’s desperate mood. Practise to read it in a way that reflects her state of
mind.
Scene 5
5. Imagine that you are the Nurse and you have just discovered Juliet dead in
her bed. How would you feel? Would you blame Romeo for his hotheadedness which has led to Juliet being left on her own? Would you blame
her parents for trying to run her life? Write 10-15 lines about how youthink
this tragic event has come about. Remember to write in the first person as if
you are the nurse.
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Worksheet 9
Activities: Act 5
1. Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy. What does this mean? Is this a
surprise, or have we been forewarned?
2. Create an alternative ending for the play. Use a story board (minimum
of six frames) and descriptions to tell your version.
3. Of the two lovers, who has suffered the most – Romeo or Juliet? Why
do you say so?
4. Make a list of things that we will find on the front page of a newspaper.
Next, design a front page for a newspaper to tell the story of Romeo
and Juliet. Pay special attention to

a catchy headline,

visuals,

eye-witness accounts,

a short summary of what had happened,

the view of someone with authority.
5. Compare the endings of the two film versions. What are the similarities
and differences between them? Which one is closer to the original
playscript? Which one do you prefer? Why? Which one is
cinematographically the most effective? Why do you say so?
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