A Pair of Star-Crossed Tweeters…

What do William Shakespeare and Twitter have in common? Most would say nothing, as they existed hundreds of years apart from one another. But keep reading…

Romeo and Juliet, the popular play that we all know and love has already been re-made from its 1650’s original into a modernized movie in 1996. If that wasn’t enough, a new idea is now allowing fans to fall in love with the characters all over again… on Twitter. This new, up-to-date version of the play is taking advantage of the social media platform to deliver an interactive experience for audiences.

The Twitter version of the play, which has been renamed to Such Tweet Sorrow, takes place in modern England. This is where the actors turned Tweeters all currently live. The Royal Shakespeare Company and Mudlark, a cross-platform production house, have banded together to make this possible.

So how exactly does this work? The online play will be approximately 4,000 Tweets in total when it is complete. Anyone with an account can follow the six actors who will be Tweeting their lines daily. The basic plotline of the Romeo and Juliet play will be followed with the feud between the Capulets and Montagues. The actual script, however, has been changed and allows room for improvization. The actors, who are all part of the Royal Shakespeare Company, are all free to Tweet about anything. For example, ordinary daily events such as what they ate for dinner. In doing so however, they must still stick to the story and follow the rough script.

This is so fascinating because a play that is over 300 years old is making its presence on the Internet, a concept that wasn’t even heard of during Shakespeare’s days. And not only that, but for the first time ever, the play allows for two-way communicatin between the actors and the audience. Followers of the play can now give feedback and interact openly.

This is all happening now, so make sure to go to SuchTweetSorrow.com for more information on how to follow the six characters!

I wonder what Shakespeare would think about this one…

*Update*

Check out the live timeline of the story here to keep up to date with what’s happening in Such Tweet Sorrow!

Also, don’t forget to follow the six main characters! Here are their Twitter names:

@julietcap16, @LaurenceFriar, @Tybalt_Cap, @Jess_nurse, @mercuteio and @romeo_mo

It’s a very fun story to follow, so stay in the loop!

~ by Kali on April 9, 2010.