Theatrical Shakespeare

The reader is invited to explore how a director can tell the story of the play in a setting that embraces the expectations of realism in cinema, but still pays homage to the theatrical origins of the work. Using Franco Zeffirelli’s film of Romeo and Juliet and Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing, this chapter explores how both of these directors used their experience and training in theatre to create a version of the play that did not compromise on the work’s theatrical origins. Attention is drawn to the setting of the film which acts as a backdrop to the action and to the respect accorded to the early modern language of the play.