Skip to main content
Drop Dead, Juliet! by Allison Williams play script cover

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: 5.0 out of 5

Recommended for High Schools and Middle Schools

At a Glance

Running Time
About 30 minutes
Approximate; excludes intermissions and scene changes
Cast
18 Characters
4 M 13 F 1 Any Gender
Set
Simple Set
Length
30 pages
Production Tips
Read production tips for this play
Free Excerpt
Classroom Study Guide
Download a free Classroom Study Guide

What to order?

Not sure what you need to order? Check out our pricing and ordering guide.

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!

5 out of 5 stars
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!
4 out of 5 stars
Emily McRae
Mount Aspiring College
Students loved the over-the-top presentational style as it helped to build real performance confidence while having fun!
5 out of 5 stars
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.

More Plays Like Drop Dead, Juliet!

The Pregnancy Project

by Lindsay Price Canadian Author

A pregnancy project turns real when Lucy's test turns pink. No statistics. No preaching. Just well-drawn characters and an engaging story.

Hamlet, Zombie Killer of Denmark

by Chris Stiles

Denmark is plagued with zombies in this gruesomely comic adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Much Ado High School

by Lindsay Price Canadian Author

What if Much Ado About Nothing took place at a high school dance? An enjoyable introduction to Shakespeare with lightning-fast pace and snappy dialogue.

Mmmbeth

by Allison Williams

An hilarious gender-bending take on the Scottish play! Updated Version.

Being Bianca: The Semi-Complete Guide

by Alan Haehnel

Bianca wants to help everyone be the best they can be. Well, she wants everyone to be just like her. Because what's better than being Bianca? Huge cast comedy.

Hamlette

by Allison Williams

Hamlet is played by a girl in this twisty-turny comedic interpretation of the classic Danish tale.

From the Drama Teacher Learning Centre

Playwriting

Happy International Women’s Day!

March 8th is International Women’s Day – and what better time to highlight some amazing women within the Theatrefolk community. Join us in celebrating these phenomenal playwrights and authors and...
Cross-Curricular

Theatrefolk’s Top 10: Cross-Curricular Plays

Time for a Tfolk Top Ten Plays For….Cross-curricular. Cross-curricular is a magic word for many admins and quite frankly there’s a good reason for that. Here in the 21st century we no longer live...
Featured Plays

Not Your Standard Shakespeare: Drop Dead, Juliet!

Romeo and Juliet may never be the same, thanks to the comedic classical adaptation, Drop Dead, Juliet!, by Allison Williams. Director Catie Reardon and the drama students at Rio Grande High School...
Themed Play Lists

Theatrefolk’s Top 10: Comedies

Time for a Tfolk Top Ten Plays for…Comedies. Read one, read them all! Click the link and you’ll be taken to the webpage for each play. There you’ll get the details and read sample pages. All the...
Themed Play Lists

Theatrefolk’s Top 10: Most Popular Plays

Time for a Tfolk Top Ten For…Our Most Popular Plays! Sometimes you want a sure thing. So this week we offer our most popular plays. These are the works that get done time and time again whether...
Podcast

Theatrefolk Podcast: Using Theatre in China

Episode 124: Using Theatre in ChinaNick Cala is a high school teacher in China. He’s putting up a play for the first time with Chinese students who are studying to attend American universities and...
We accept
Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Google Pay, and Apple Pay
We accept school purchase orders too. Info for your purchasing department