English 9 – Period 4
Mr. Rejan
Romeo & Juliet
Director’s Portfolio
For our final project on Romeo & Juliet, you will choose ONE of the following scenes
from the play. Imagining that you have been hired to direct a performance of this
particular scene, you will develop a detailed portfolio, exploring your interpretation of the
scene and your process for moving Shakespeare’s language from page to stage.
• Act I, scene 1, lines 118-247 (p. 17-25): Benvolio comforts Romeo, who is madly in love with
Rosaline and depressed that that she does not feel the same way about him.
• Act I, scene 4, lines 48-160 (p. 53-61): Romeo and Juliet fall in love at first sight.
• Act II, scene 2, lines 1- 167 (p. 69-81): Reunited in Capulet’s garden, Romeo and Juliet
express their love and their desire to be married.
• Act II, scene 3, lines 1-101 (p. 83-91): Friar Lawrence agrees to help Romeo in his plan to
marry Juliet.
• Act III, scene 2, lines 1-157 (p. 129-139): Juliet learns that Tybalt is dead and Romeo has been
banished.
Your final portfolio will include the following components:
1. Annotation (due Friday, March 15 – H Day). Annotate a copy of your script. Mark important
passages. Write down some of your questions and reactions in the margins. As you read, begin to
imagine what this scene will look like on stage.
2. Summary (also due Friday, March 15 – H Day). Use the following questions to guide your
writing of the summary paragraph.
- What happens in the previous scene(s) that may help to set up this scene?
- In your own words, explain the key events that occur in this scene.
3. Set Design (due Monday, March 18 – A Day). Create a sketch that shows the physical space
in which the scene will take place. Include any doorways, furniture, decorative objects or other
structures. As you are designing the set, you should also make some decisions about the setting:
in what year and in what place will the action be happening? For example, Baz Luhrmann
chooses to set his version of the film in modern-day Verona Beach, California. Franco
Zeffirelli’s film stays closer to Shakespeare’s original vision, placing the story in Verona, Italy in
the late 1500s. Indicate the time period and location in your sketch.
4. Characterization (due Wednesday, March 20 – C Day). Write at least two well-developed
paragraphs about two major characters in your scene. Use the following questions to guide your
writing of each character paragraph.
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What is the character’s main OBJECTIVE? In other words, what does the character
want?
What obstacles does the character face that may interfere with the objective?
Choose a particular line from the scene that seems to capture some important aspect of
the character.
• Explain what the line seems to mean and discuss what the line reveals about the
character.
• How do you imagine that the actor would deliver this line? Consider tone of
voice, facial expression, gesture, etc.
How does this character change during the course of the scene? Or, if the character has
not changed, how do you know? Cite textual evidence.
5. Costumes (due Friday, March 22 – E Day). Describe how the characters will be dressed in
this scene. Be specific. Explain what the costumes will show us about the characters and their
relationships.
6. Lighting (also due Friday, March 22 – E Day). How will you use light (and darkness) to help
capture the mood of the scene? How will the lighting change during the course of the scene?
Explain. Some of the lighting elements you might choose to control include how bright/dim the
lights will be, what the lights focus on (e.g., a spotlight highlighting a particular character),
whether any colored light will be used (e.g., a blue or red tint might suggest the mood), and what
the audience sees onstage before the final “blackout,” when the lights go out to signal the end of
the scene.
7. Blocking (due Monday, March 25 – F Day). The term “blocking” refers to the movement and
positioning of actors on a stage. Choose THREE specific moments in the scene (one from toward
the beginning, one from somewhere in the middle and one from toward the end). In each
moment, describe how the characters are positioned in relationship to each other. If they move
during this moment, when do they move, where do they move and why? How does the
movement/positioning of the characters demonstrate who is in power?
8. Director’s Note (due Tuesday, March 26 – G Day). In 1-2 well-developed paragraphs, write a
“program note” that your audience would read before they view the performance of your scene.
- Why did you choose this scene? What about it captures your attention?
- What line or lines might confuse the audience in this scene and what explanation can
you give to help clarify the audience’s understanding?
- In your opinion, what is the most important line(s) in this scene? Why?
- What do you hope that the audience will “take away” from this particular performance?
What do you want the audience to feel during the scene? What do you want them to think
about?
General Guidelines:
With the exception of the annotations (which may be written on your script) and the set
design (which may be sketched neatly on a clean piece of paper), all parts of the portfolio
must be typed.
When you cite lines from the play, please include a parenthetic citation with the Act,
scene and line numbers. Ex: “Rebellious subjects, enemies to the peace./Profaners of this
neighbor-stainèd steel” (1.1.84-85).
Each step has a separate due date. Completing each step on time will count as part of the
final project grade.
Make sure to save your draft of each step on the computer and to save the hard copy in
your class folder. In the end, you will revise all of the individual pieces/paragraphs and
combine them to form your final portfolio.
Final Portfolio Due: Thursday, March 28 (A Day).