Catalina Morales de Flores, High School

12th Grade English

Ms. López

“ My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me, That I must love a loathèdenemy.”- Juliet Capulet from Romeo & Juliet

A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading.

Plays are performed at a variety of levels, from Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional theater, to Community theatre, as well a University or school productions.

Comedy

Comedies are plays which are designed to behumorous. Comedies are often filled with wittyremarks, unusual characters, and strangecircumstances. Certain comedies are geared towarddifferent age groups. Comedies were one of the twooriginal play types of Ancient Greece, along withtragedies. An example of a comedy would be WilliamShakespeare's play "A Midsummer Night's Dream,"

Farce

A generally nonsensical genre of play, farces are oftenoveracted and often involve slapstick humour.

Satirical

A satire play takes a comic look at current events peoplewhile at the same time attempting to make a political orsocial statement, for example pointing out corruption.An example of a satire would be Nikolai Gogol's TheGovernment Inspector and Aristophanes' Lysistrata.

Tragedy

These plays contain darker themes such as death anddisaster. Often the protagonist of the play is a tragic herohas a tragic flaw, a trait which leads to their downfall.Tragic plays convey all emotions, and have extremelydramatic conflicts. Tragedy was one of the two originalplay types of Ancient Greece. Some examples oftragedies include William Shakespeare's Hamlet, andalso John Webster's play The Duchess of Malfi.

Historical

These plays focus on actual historical events. They canbe tragedies or comedies, but are often neither of these.History as a separate genre was popularized by WilliamShakespeare. Examples of historical plays includeFriedrich Schiller's Demetrius and WilliamShakespeare's King John.

A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or drama. These works may be written specifically to be performed by actors, or they may be closet dramas - simple literary works -written using dramatic forms, but not meant for performance.

William Shakespeare (23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist.

He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon".

His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays,154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, the authorship of some of which is uncertain.

William Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare, an alderman and a successful glover originally from Snitterfield, and Mary Arden, the daughter of an affluent landowning farmer.

At the age of 18, Shakespeare married the 26-year-old Anne Hathaway, and six months after the marriage Anne gave birth to a daughter, Susanna, baptised 26 May 1583. Twins, son Hamnet and daughter Judith, followed almost two years later and were baptisedFebruary 1585.Hamnet died of unknown causes at the age of 11 and was buried 11 August 1596.

After the birth of his twins, very little is know about Shakespeare until he re emerges in the world of theatre.

Scholars refer to the years between 1585 and 1592 as Shakespeare's "lost years".

Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616.

Shakespeare was buried in the chancel of the Holy Trinity Church two days after his death.The epitaph carved into the stone slab covering his grave includes a curse against moving his bones, which was carefully avoided during restoration of the church in 2008

The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare.

It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend and grandson Sir Matthew Brend, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613.

A second Globe Theatre was built on the same site by June 1614 and closed in 1642.

A modern reconstruction of the Globe, named "Shakespeare's Globe", opened in 1997 approximately 750 feet from the site of the original theatre.

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families.

It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with Hamlet, is one of his most frequently performed plays.

Today, the title characters are regarded as archetypal young lovers.

Ruling house of Verona :

Prince Escalus is the ruling Prince of Verona

Count Paris is a kinsman of Escalus who wishes to marry Juliet.

Mercutio is another kinsman of Escalus, and a friend of Romeo.

House of Montague:

Montague is the patriarch of the house of Montague.

Lady Montague is the matriarch of the house of Montague.

Romeo is the son of Montague, and the play's male protagonist.

Benvolio is Romeo's cousin and best friend.

House of Capulet :

Capulet is the patriarch of the house of Capulet.

Lady Capulet is the matriarch of the house of Capulet.

Juliet is the 13-year-old daughter of Capulet, and the play's female protagonist.

Tybalt is a cousin of Juliet, and the nephew of Capulet's wife.

The Nurse is Juliet's personal attendant and confidante. Rosaline is Lord Capulet's niece, and Romeo's love in the beginning of the story.

Verona, Italy