My plans for a Romeo and Juliet adaptation by me<3
The two families are crime families of the Italian mafia
They still talk in Shakespearean. Baz Luhrman that shit
The cause of the "ancient grudge" is heavily alluded to by older characters but never explained like Avengers Budapest
There's a scene after the banquet and before the balcony in which the lovers even ask peers and adults about the cause
But they all tell different versions
"They got divorced" -Mercutio
"The Montagues met our offer of alliance by stealing our money" -Nurse
"The Capulets spit in Don Montagues tea" -Benvolio
Instead of lecturing Romeo about Queen Mab, Mercutio goes on a tangent about Goncharov
Mercutio is crushing on Romeo
Tybalt is secretly a furry and only Juliet knows (guess what his fursona is. Guess)
"Do you fucking bite your thumb at us, bitch?"
When Romeo enters he's listening to West Side Story, eyeliner running down his face
Rosaline is a 30 year old woman who pities the 16 year old with a hopeless crush on her
Benvolio and Mercutio are Romeos bodyguards
They're both pre-T and not out to their families yet.
This leads to Nurse telling Juliet Romeos deadname and not his chosen name, and vice versa with Nurse introducing Juliet to Romeo by her deadname. So for much of act 1 they don't know each other's real names
Which leads to Juliet: "wherefore art thou (deadname)? Deny thy father and refuse thy name" "tis but thy name that is my enemy". Romeo, hidden: "oh boy have I got news for her!"
Much of the balcony scene is them telling each other their chosen names, feeling seen for the first time by another
Only Tybalt knows about Juliets transition
Mercutio, Benvolio, and Romeos excursion into the party is actually Benvolios bright ide a to scam the Capulets out of their money
Until Romeo sees a pretty girl and almost blows the entire plan
In Mercutios speeches to Romeo ("be rough with love" "now art thou social" etc) he is applying Romeos lip gloss for him.
Everyone in the cast is dressed in dark tones in black except for the two leads in deep scarlet.
As Mercutio lays dying, he delivers the line "A plague on both your houses" as he smears his own blood on Romeos lips with his hand. As if applying lip gloss.
The friar and the prince are played by the same actor.
The "gallop apace" soliloquy is spoken alternately by both Romeo and Juliet
It is Benvolio who gives Romeo the poison
Romeo does NOT lay Paris in Juliets tomb as he requests.
After Romeo takes the poison and dies, an entire musical refrain plays, at the end of which Juliet finally awakens, and the music abruptly stops. Leaving the stage entirely silent as she screams in despair.
The families, ashamed by the tragedy, bury the lovers in modest graves. The play ends with Benvolio, alone, to deliver the final speech with two bags of money in his hand that he burns over their graves
