{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-c03aa079.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-517835be.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='Royal Shakespeare Company preview their new production, \u0026#39;Romeo and Juliet in Baghdad\u0026#39;' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54c076d8eafeecae14aeba' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54c076d8eafeecae14aeba' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nRoyal Shakespeare Company preview their new production, \u0026#39;Romeo and Juliet in Baghdad\u0026#39;\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003eA new unique take on the classic Shakespeare story \"Romeo and Juliet\" is set to wow spectators at Stratford-upon-Avon's Swan Theatre.This new version transports the story from Verona to modern day Baghdad. It's aptly titled - \"Romeo and...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003eA new unique take on the classic Shakespeare story \"Romeo and Juliet\" is set to wow spectators at Stratford-upon-Avon's Swan Theatre.\u003cbr/\u003eThis new version transports the story from Verona to modern day Baghdad. It's aptly titled - \"Romeo and Juliet in Baghdad.\"\u003cbr/\u003eThe show was created by Baghdad's Iraqi Theatre Company and is directed by Monadhil Daood, who also adapted the play.\u003cbr/\u003eHis story is set against a backdrop of conflict between families, communities and generations in the war-torn country.\u003cbr/\u003eIn Iraq there has been sectarian strife between Sunni and Shia Muslims, so Daood re-sets the family squabble between the Montagues and the Capulets to a fight between a Sunni and a Shia family.\u003cbr/\u003e\"I feel my people need it in Iraq. OK, I understand that I came to the Shakespeare World Festival, but the important thing is it is my people, because I re-built the text and I wrote new text in Iraqi dialect,\" explains Daood. \u003cbr/\u003e\"I'm talking to my people heart from heart. This is not romantic text, this is very tragic text and I think me coming from Iraq it means (this story is) the regal son of the tragic ritual. I know my people, how they think, how they feel and I'm talking with them directly without anything (else), I go direct to them. I told them in my first performance which was in Baghdad one week ago, I said, we were very bad people, we had very bad problems when the conflict began between the Sunni and the Shia.\"\u003cbr/\u003eThe play stars Ahmed Salah Moneka as Romeo and Sarwa Rasool as Juliet.\u003cbr/\u003eThe pair have already performed the show in Baghdad, but they are excited about their story coming to the U.K.\u003cbr/\u003e\"Romeo and Juliet is an international story and it's well known globally, but when we changed the setting to Iraq and used Iraq slang, we had to talk about Baghdad in detail and express the suffering feeling and the love which exists within the Iraqi people, \" says Moneka.\u003cbr/\u003e\"Romeo and Juliet in Baghdad\" is part of a challenge set by the Royal Shakespeare Company to theatre groups around the world to create contemporary versions of classic plays to mark the upcoming London Olympics. \u003cbr/\u003eThe plays are being shown as part of the World Shakespeare Festival, which will come to Stratford-upon-Avon, London and other venues around the U.K. over the course of the next few months.\u003cbr/\u003e\"Romeo and Juliet in Baghdad\" opens at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon on Thursday April 26 and runs until May 5 before relocating to London for two nights in June at the LIFT Riverside Studios. \u003cbr/\u003eThe play will be performed in Arabic with English surtitles.\u003cbr/\u003eAP Entertainment \u003cbr/\u003eStratford-Upon-Avon, UK 25 April 2012\u003cbr/\u003e1. Exteriors of Swan Theatre\u003cbr/\u003e2. Wide of rehearsal inside theater\u003cbr/\u003e3. Mid of actress Sarwa Rasool on floor in rehearsals \u003cbr/\u003e4. SOUNDBITE (English) Deborah Shaw, director of World Shakespeare Festival and Associate Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company - on how the story is relevant in Iraq:\u003cbr/\u003e\" The issues of honor and religion will speak much strongly in some communities than it will in others. 'Romeo and Juliet in Baghdad' coming from Iraq, we've just watched a scene being teched and there's bombing happening outside the building  that Juliet is in and she's waiting for Romeo in the tomb, you know we've seen it on the newsreels it really makes you well up because of the flesh and blood person there living that play. And I saw it a week ago in Baghdad when it premiered, it did a couple of performances, and the audience was living it as  anew minted play that was speaking to them across a sectarian divide and it does make you wonder if that was Shakespeare was writing, that was his obsession to look at the Protestants and the Catholics, and the schisms in society  at the time because it certainly speaks for a society living through that and wants to give up on the Tybalts and the gangster and embrace the Romeos and the Juliets as heroes. \"\u003cbr/\u003e5. Wide of rehearsal for \"Romeo and Juliet in Baghdad\"\u003cbr/\u003e6. SOUNDBITE (English) Deborah Shaw, director of World Shakespeare Festival and Associate Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company - on the problems the production faced:\u003cbr/\u003e\" Logistically I think you can't underestimate the fact that there are no resources in Iraq, there is no support structure. I mean we were very lucky in the Ministry of Culture's department of theatre and cinema was very supportive. The national Theatre a lot of the actors work there so we were bale to rehearse there, but actually even getting to a rehearsal room is a real challenge everyday and  not even every day because the roads are blocked so you never know what's going to happen. When you do get to a rehearsal you can't ask people to turn their telephones off because they have to stay in touch with their families because it can be a matter of life and death. You just can't even begin to understand the pressure and lack of, there's a chasm below them, there is no security no support no anything, they all look out for each other, it makes for a really string theatre company here. And also it's not about the poor Iraqis they work in such poor conditions actually that's got nothing to do with it, they settle that aside and they work on their play. I have nothing but admiration for all of them.  \"\u003cbr/\u003e7.Wide of rehearsal for \"Romeo and Juliet in Baghdad\"\u003cbr/\u003e8. SOUNDBITE (English) Monadhil Daood, director - on why he chose Romeo and Juliet:\u003cbr/\u003e\"I feel my people need it in Iraq. OK, I understand that I came to the Shakespeare World Festival, but the important thing is it is my people, because I re-built the text and I wrote new text in Iraqi dialect. I'm talking to my people heart from heart. This is not romantic text, this is very tragic text and I think me coming from Iraq it means (this story is) the regal son of the tragic ritual. I know my people, how they think, how they feel and I'm talking with them directly without anything (else), I go direct to them. I told them in my first performance which was in Baghdad one week ago, I said, we were very bad people, we had very bad problems when the conflict began between the Sunni and the Shia.\"\u003cbr/\u003e9. Wide of musicians playing score \u003cbr/\u003e10. Wide of actor Ahmed Salah Moneka sitting in rehearsals \u003cbr/\u003e11. Wide of actress Sarwa Rasool on floor in rehearsals \u003cbr/\u003e12. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ahmed Salah Moneka, actor:\u003cbr/\u003e\"Romeo and Juliet is an international story and it's well known globally, but when we changed the setting to Iraq and used Iraq slang, we had to talk about Baghdad in detail and express the suffering feeling and the love which exists within the Iraqi people.\"\u003cbr/\u003e13.Wide of rehearsal for \"Romeo and Juliet in Baghdad\"\u003cbr/\u003e14. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Sarwa Rasool, actress - on what people can take away from the experience of watching the play:\u003cbr/\u003e\"I think we expressed thoroughly the suffering of some Iraqi people and the extreme wealth of others, but I think the Iraqi people with their love for each other, they will reach the right solution to end their suffering improve their country.\"\u003cbr/\u003e15. 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