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When we stop looking inward, we start to see who’s really in the boat with us. Boat is a powerful middle school vignette play about empathy, connection, and realizing we’ve never been alone. Click to learn more!

Drop Dead, Juliet!

Drop Dead, Juliet!

by Allison Williams

Juliet has had enough! Enough with the poison, enough with the stabbing, and especially enough with the dying. She wants a new story and she wants it now. More parts for girls! More romance! Less death!

Romeo and Juliet will never be the same - or will it? Not everyone's so keen on the changes. And why is Romeo sneaking off with Rosaline?

Comedy Classical Adaptation Shakespeare

Average Producer Rating:

Recommended for High Schools and Middle Schools

About 30 minutes
Times given are approximate and do not include intermissions/scene changes/breaks
18 Characters
4 M | 13 F | 1 Any Gender
Simple Set
30 pages

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Performance Royalty Fees

Royalty fees apply to all performances whether or not admission is charged. Any performance in front of an audience (e.g. an invited dress rehearsal) is considered a performance for royalty purposes.

Exemption details for scenes and monologues for competition.

18 Characters
4 M, 13 F, 1 Any Gender

Characters in this play are currently identified as male or female. Directors are welcome to assign any gender (binary or non-binary) to any character and modify pronouns accordingly.


Capulets
Juliet [F] 134 lines
Is scripted to die. Doesn’t.
Nurse [F] 12 lines
Knows there are no small parts.
Lord Capulet [M] 6 lines
Juliet’s dad. A believer in tough love.
Lady Capulet [F] 14 lines
Juliet’s mom. Is just happy she’s not in “The Tempest.”
Gregory [F] 3 lines
Lover of wordplay.
Sampson [F] 6 lines
He does bite his thumb, ma’am.
Tybalt [F] 10 lines
Prince of Cats. Only one life, though.

Montagues
Romeo [M] 58 lines
Wherefore art him.
Abram [F] 4 lines
Initiates the Dance Off.
Mercutio [F] 12 lines
Generally good-natured, when he isn’t wishing a plague on your house.
Lady Montague [F] 5 lines
Romeo’s mom. Thinks :Love at first sight” is a little contrived.
A Montague [A] 1 line
Worried that they just got served by the Capulets.

Others
Shakespeare [M] 72 lines
The Bard himself. Knows that the pen is mightier than the sword.
Prince/Princess [F] 5 lines
Immediately exiles Romeo hence. It’s nothing personal, though.
Friar/Sister Lawrence [F] 13 lines
Your go-to gal for poison.
Friar John [M] 1 line
The stupid one.
Ophelia [F] 0 lines
The strong, silent, “runs off crying” type.
Desdemona [F] 1 line
Should start hand-washing her handkerchiefs.

Praise for Drop Dead, Juliet!

Emily McRae
Mount Aspiring College
Students loved the over-the-top presentational style as it helped to build real performance confidence while having fun!
Joanna Shumaker
Coleman Community Jr/Sr High School
The play was great! And a perfect size to use to restart our drama program at our school! The script was well done and mixed original Shakespeare with the storyline which was great!
Holly Thomas
International Charter School of Atlanta
We adored doing this play. The writing is magnificent. We loved switching from old to modern English and all of the funny one-liner jokes.

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From the Drama Teacher Learning Centre

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