as small as a world and as large as alone

10:50pm May 25, 2014

soilrockslove:

Thoughts about Romeo & Juliet.

I keep thinking about a version of Romeo and Juliet where both of them are developmentally disabled. One of the common complaints I hear about the story is that the two of them don’t talk enough to know that they’re truly in love.  and looking at the script, I can kind of see that. That’s because they do most of their “talking” without words.  Imagine them going to the dance and all of a sudden seeing someone on the other side of the dance floor with the same body language as they do, which they’ve never seen before.  And they can tell the way the other is feeling by how they hold themselves. And they quickly decide to steal off somewhere, and as soon as they get out of eyesight, they start doing all sorts of weird things together with their hands. And quoting bits of poetry about “courtly love” and “religion” at eachother.  Which maybe doesn’t make much sense.  But all the important stuff is going through their hands and through the way their shoulders are slowly relaxing.

R & J on Juliet’s balcony staring up at the stars together and marveling at them.  And then waving their fingers in front of the stars, making collaborative patterns against the shape of the Milky Way, until they feel like they are themselves part of the night sky.  

Romeo, hyperactive, with stuff flying out of his mouth and he *knows* it’s stupid, but his mouth is quicker than he is sometimes. 

Juliet, finding ways to remind her nurse that she’s plenty smart even if she doesn’t “look like it”

Especially if they were played by two disabled actors - I would totally watch it!

In the movie “The Ringer” there was a segment where Romeo and Juliet were acted out by actors with developmental disabilities.  (Playing characters with developmental disabilities who also happened to be actors.)  It is worth watching that movie – most of the DD characters are played by DD actors – ID actors, in particular.

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