Romeo and Juliet

Alternative title
The Shakespeare Plays
Synopsis
Television production starring Patrick Ryecart as Romeo and Rebecca Saire as Juliet; with Alan Rickman as Tybalt.
Series
BBC Television Shakespeare
Language
English
Country
Great Britain; United States
Medium
Television
Technical information
Colour / Sound
Recording date
31 Jan 1978
Transmission details
3 Dec 1978 (Channel: BBC2)

Credits

Director
Alvin Rakoff
Producer
Cedric Messina
Writer
William Shakespeare
Music
James Tyler
Costume
Odette Barrow
Art Direction
Stuart Walker
Choreographer
Geraldine Stephenson
Contributor
Alan Shallcross
Cast
Patrick RyecartRomeo
Rebecca SaireJuliet
Anthony AndrewsMercutio
Joseph O’ConorFriar Laurence
Celia JohnsonNurse
Alan BowermanFirst Citizen
Alan RickmanTybalt
Bunny ReedAbram
Christopher NortheyParis
Christopher StrauliBenvolio
Danny SchillerMusician
David SibleySampson (Sampson)
Esmond KnightOld Capulet
Gary TaylorPotpan
Jack CarrGregory
Jacqueline HillLady Capulet
Jeffrey ChiswickSecond Watch
Jeremy YoungFirst Watch
John GielgudChorus
John PaulMontague
John SavidentFriar John
Laurence NaismithEscalus, Prince of Verona
Marguerite YoungCitizen
Mark ArdenPage to Paris
Michael HordernCapulet
Paul HenryPeter
Robert BurbageTybalt’s Page
Roger DavidsonBalthasar
Vernon DobtcheffApothecary
Zulema DeneLady Montague

Additional Details

Production type
Television and Radio Drama
Historical period
Renaissance Italy
Plays
Romeo and Juliet
Subjects
Drama
Keywords
drama in English; performances; Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)
Related items
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet

Notes

Notes
The production is commercially available on DVD as part of the BBC TV SHAKESPEARE COLLECTION box set (see separate entry).
Figures
This is the opening production in the BBC’s complete cycle of the plays. Recording took six days.
Viewing figure 1.9 million. Ten years earlier THE FORSYTE SAGA was commanding a regular audience of 17million; three weeks after the transmission of ROMEO AND JULIET, the film THE SOUND OF MUSIC got an audience of 26 million.
Textual information
Between 1978 and 1986 the BBC published individual scripts of the series. Each volume of The BBC TV Shakespeare, ed. Peter Alexander et al. (London: British Broadcasting Corporation) contains the full text of the play (the Peter Alexander edition) with accompanying notes on the scene breaks and cuts made in the production, as well as a glossary. A general introduction to the play by series literary advisor John Wilders is followed by an essay on the production of the play by Henry Fenwick. This is based on interviews with actors, directors, and designers.
Reviews
Susan Willis, The BBC Shakespeare Plays: Making the Televised Canon (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991).

Production Company

Name

BBC

Notes
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Name

Time-Life Films Inc

Phone
0101 201 843 4545
Address
PO Box 644
NJ 07652
USA

Distributor (Sale)

Name

Simply Media

Contact
Laura Smith
Email
info@simplymedia.tv
Web
http://www.simplymedia.tv/ External site opens in new window
Phone
0203 542 3722
Address
Highlight House
57 Margaret Street
London W1W 8SJ
Notes
Formerly known as DD Home Entertainment or DDHE
Name

Trumedia Ltd

Contact
Bill Cotton
Email
sales@trumedia.co.uk
Web
https://trumedia.co.uk/ External site opens in new window
Phone
01865 847837
Fax
01865 847837
Address
9 Meadow View
Kidlington
Kidlington
OX5 2XY
Notes
Trumedia supplies video tapes and DVDs to UK schools, colleges and universities and is geared up to take official orders from educational institutions. The catalogue highlights programmes likely to be of use in the curriculum, but the company can supply any video in current UK distribution, as well as some deleted titles. Particularly strong in the areas of English literature and drama, as well as history, natural history, art & artists, and foreign language films.

Online Retailer

Name

Moviemail

Web
https://www.simplyhe.com/3000-moviemail External site opens in new window
Phone
0844 848 2000
Address
Simply Home Entertainment
PO Box 7741
Ringwood
BH24 9FA
UK
Notes
As of December 2016 the Moviemail web presence is incorporated within the Simply Media website

How to cite this record

Shakespeare, "Romeo and Juliet". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/shakespeare/search/index.php/title/18540 (Accessed 08 Oct 2024)