Created on the Charisma.ai platform, WillPlay adapts, alters and modernises Shakespeare’s celebrated tale of star-crossed lovers for 21st-century teenage readers through a new, accessible story-telling medium. The reader becomes a part of the drama, and dramatic dialogue becomes social media messages.
The story is retold through three interactive group chats: “Love”, in which Romeo and Juliet meet; “Hate”, in which Mercutio, Romeo and Tybalt engage in a deadly duel; and “Death”, in which the story comes to its tragic conclusion. In each chat, the reader takes on a different role. Each chat is preceded by an Instagram-style “story”, using visual cues, comments, handles and hashtags to set the scene, introduce the key characters, and situate the reader in the plot.
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