The great actors of the Romantic Age preferred, on the whole², other Shakespearian tragedies (e.g. Hamlet).
So, to create interest in the play, the role of Romeo was often acted by a woman. In 1841 Ellen Tree made the first experiment in this direction, soon followed by Charlotte Cusman as Romeo and her sister Susan as Juliet (Haymarket Theatre, 1845-1846).
In Shakespeare’s times, on the contrary, even female roles were played by actors.
Towards the close of the century Helena Modjeska, an actress of Polish origin, and Johnston Forbes-Robertson successfully revived³ the tragedy of the two unfortunate lovers in the London theatres.
Laurence Olivier (1907-1989) was seen in his first Shakespearian roles at London New Theatre, in 1935, alternating Romeo and Mercutio with John Gielgud (1904-2000). Gielgud was also the stage director of this renowned⁴ version, and the cast included Peggy Ashcroft and Alec Guinnes. In 1940 Vivien Leigh made her debut in New York, with the Old Vic company, playing a deliciously innocent Juliet to the Romeo of Olivier. Some years later, in 1953, Juliet’s role was beautifully interpreted by another famous actress, Claire Bloom, with Peter Finch (1916-1977) as Mercutio.
The vitality of the play is witnessed⁵ by the constant interest of acting companies⁶ and audiences.
An interesting experiment took place in June 2005 when the Globe Theatre in London – a reconstruction of an open air theatre designed in 1599 – staged Romeo and Juliet, director of the play Tim Carrol. It was a very good production exploring music, clothes and setting possible in Shakespeare’s time. Even the original pronunciation was used in order to understand how audiences could react at Shakespeare’s words at the time when they were written.
Other versions of Romeo and Juliet, which have the culture and the setting of where the play was made, have been performed. For instance, an adaptation of the play was made which criticizes the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It had Romeo as a Palestinian and Juliet as a Jew in Israel and the Palestinian territories.