Fandom Overview: Rómeó és Júlia (musical)
Hi, I'm carmarthen and this month I'll be doing recs for the tiny-but-could-be-bigger fandom Rómeó és Júlia, the post-apocalyptic aesthetic, fire and leather Hungarian version of the French musical based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (whew)!
Don't worry--you don't need to know Hungarian (subtitles are available) and this is Romeo and Juliet for people who don't normally like Romeo and Juliet (as well as those who do)!
I'll give a quick run-down, since most people are probably familiar with the basic plot, and then spread out my handful of recs through the rest of the month. The plot summary will be a bit spoilery, but if you've been exposed to the Western literary canon at all you're probably already spoiled--most of what makes this production unique is in the aesthetic and character details, not in major plot changes. In fact, if you're not specifically familiar with this production, you may still enjoy much of the fic (although I highly recommend watching it, of course).
Rómeó és Júlia
Beautiful Verona greets you:
Don't get between me and my revenge!
Like the original Shakespeare play, Rómeó és Júlia is the story of a Verona torn by senseless violence. In this version, however, there's no Lord Montague, and while Lord Capulet seems ready to make peace, the ladies of the two houses are not--nor are the younger generation, who roam the streets in gangs despite the edict of the Prince against fighting. Romeo and Julia, of course, meet and fall in love against the wishes of their families--but love isn't enough to save them from the violence around them. Everything ends in fire and death, except in fanfiction, where fix-it AUs and sex are a more common outcome.
We're destined for hell and we'll all burn,
but heaven awaits Romeo and Julia.
The aesthetic
The aesthetic of this show can be pretty much summed up as glitter, leather, fire, and blood--it's sort of post-apocalyptic, in a way that's open to interpretation as to whether this all symbolizes 16th century Verona or whether it is in fact in outer space. There are a lot of vinyl jackets and leather pants, and the costumes are a mixture of vaguely historical all the way through punk. The Capulet ball is attended by fire dancers. And Juliet doesn't kill herself with poison.
Main Characters
Julia Capulet & Romeo Montague
In this production, Julia Capulet is a bit of a wild teenage girl who wants the chance to live life outside the stifling confines of life in Verona. She's sweet, assured, smart, and passionate. Romeo, by contrast, is more of a dreamer, beginning the show with a dose of existential angst--he's tired of meaningless conquests and longs for real love, uninterested in the feuding that occupies the attentions of his friends Benvolio and Mercutio. The actors have really great chemistry, and I'll be honest--I don't normally find myself all that involved with the main characters in this story, but here they actually sell me on them and their romance, making the tragedy of their senseless deaths genuinely moving.
Secondary Characters
Mercutio
Benvolio
Tybalt
Bitter, flamboyant, witty, misogynist yet charming--this Mercutio makes almost as many punny dick jokes as his Shakespearean predecessor, although sadly not all of them make it through in the subtitles. Mercutio's the kind of guy who's the life of the party--but who leaves your carpet wine-stained and littered with broken bottles and doesn't offer to help clean up afterwards. It's fairly easy to make an argument for reading him as bisexual, and in love with Romeo, depending on the actors. A kinsman of the Prince.
More good-natured and easy-going than Mercutio, Benvolio is Romeo's stable friend--although he's still one of the Montagues and not above some fairly nasty behavior of his own. Unlike Shakespeare, this Benvolio is an orphan adopted by the Montagues, not necessarily Romeo's cousin.
Perhaps the character most changed for the Hungarian production, this Tybalt is an angry, depressed mess with a fixation on his cousin Julia, some very weird chemistry with his aunt Capulet, and an intense mutual hate-on with Mercutio. His social skills mostly begin and end at shouting, but he's also aware that he's messed up--but unable to find his way out of his toxic environment. The fact that he's epileptic as well is probably the least of his problems.
Lady Capulet
Lord Capulet
Lady Montague
Lady Capulet's role is greatly expanded from Shakespeare, and through the course of the play her brittle facade of glittering society lady, wife, and mother slowly crumbles, revealing her unhappiness with the very role she's trying to marry her daughter into.
Perhaps one of the more sympathetic takes on Lord Capulet that I've seen, it's clear he genuinely cares about his daughter and he seems ready to let the feud die. Alas, his marriage has cooled to the point of farce--but his greatest problem, perhaps, is that he's ineffectual.
A widow, we don't see nearly as much of Lady Montague as of Lady Capulet, but they're equally matched in will, and it's clear Lady Montague is a political player in her own right--but even more disconnected from her son than the Capulets are from their daughter.
The Nurse
Friar Laurence
Paris
In the second scene, the most well-adjusted adult in the story joins Lady Capulet in telling Julia "Life is beautiful but very short, so grab a husband who won't beat you to death." The Nurse, while she loves Julia like her own daughter, is still caught in the terrible mindset of this Verona. (She's also pretty badass at handling Montague street punks.)
Friar Laurence serves as the narrator of the story, as well as Romeo's adult mentor figure, a role which he is slightly worse at than the Nurse. He seems conflicted about the earthly things he's given up for the Church, and in some versions seems to hang up his cassock at the end to become a storyteller.
A smarmy young nobleman courting Julia, Paris's main trait is that he has absolutely no idea what he's getting into on any level. He's not exactly likable, but he is entertaining. A kinsman of the Prince.
Escalus, Prince of Verona
Rosa
Peter
The well-meaning ruler of Verona, Escalus wants to stop the violence, but seems unable to gain any real control over the feuding families. His role is somewhat cut down from the original French production.
Rosa, Romeo's ex-girlfriend, seems to be a Montague hanger-on (not equivalent to Shakespeare's Rosaline), and she's not happy with him.
Peter is the Nurse's slightly hapless servant.
Ships
Romeo/Julia is of course canon, and frequently a background pairing in fic, as is Tybalt's unrequited love for Julia. While it's not really a big enough fandom for "popular" pairings to stand out, Tybalt/Mercutio is probably the most often written, perhaps mainly because of the angry facetouch:
This is the kind of show where everyone has chemistry with everyone, though, and the possibilities definitely haven't all been explored yet.
There are also many opportunities for gen exploring many of the relationships in canon, particularly the family relationships, Julia and the Nurse, and the Romeo-Benvolio-Mercutio friendship. Since this is such a tiny fandom, there's a lot of new territory to play in!
Resources
The Show
There are basically three fandoms that have produced fic that I know of: an older, mostly inactive English language fandom, primarily archived on LJ; current English language fandom, mostly on Tumblr and AO3; and Russian fandom, scattered over several archives and occasionally crossposted to AO3. Here are some places to find fic:
On Tumblr, both the rómeó és júlia and romeo es julia tags are sporadically active (although there's more art than fic--but great art!); the French production fandom is more active in the romeo et juliette tag.
(All lyrics quoted here are from the fan subtitles translated by cricep.)
Don't worry--you don't need to know Hungarian (subtitles are available) and this is Romeo and Juliet for people who don't normally like Romeo and Juliet (as well as those who do)!
I'll give a quick run-down, since most people are probably familiar with the basic plot, and then spread out my handful of recs through the rest of the month. The plot summary will be a bit spoilery, but if you've been exposed to the Western literary canon at all you're probably already spoiled--most of what makes this production unique is in the aesthetic and character details, not in major plot changes. In fact, if you're not specifically familiar with this production, you may still enjoy much of the fic (although I highly recommend watching it, of course).
Rómeó és Júlia
Beautiful Verona greets you:
Don't get between me and my revenge!
Like the original Shakespeare play, Rómeó és Júlia is the story of a Verona torn by senseless violence. In this version, however, there's no Lord Montague, and while Lord Capulet seems ready to make peace, the ladies of the two houses are not--nor are the younger generation, who roam the streets in gangs despite the edict of the Prince against fighting. Romeo and Julia, of course, meet and fall in love against the wishes of their families--but love isn't enough to save them from the violence around them. Everything ends in fire and death, except in fanfiction, where fix-it AUs and sex are a more common outcome.
We're destined for hell and we'll all burn,
but heaven awaits Romeo and Julia.
The aesthetic
The aesthetic of this show can be pretty much summed up as glitter, leather, fire, and blood--it's sort of post-apocalyptic, in a way that's open to interpretation as to whether this all symbolizes 16th century Verona or whether it is in fact in outer space. There are a lot of vinyl jackets and leather pants, and the costumes are a mixture of vaguely historical all the way through punk. The Capulet ball is attended by fire dancers. And Juliet doesn't kill herself with poison.
Main Characters
Julia Capulet & Romeo Montague
In this production, Julia Capulet is a bit of a wild teenage girl who wants the chance to live life outside the stifling confines of life in Verona. She's sweet, assured, smart, and passionate. Romeo, by contrast, is more of a dreamer, beginning the show with a dose of existential angst--he's tired of meaningless conquests and longs for real love, uninterested in the feuding that occupies the attentions of his friends Benvolio and Mercutio. The actors have really great chemistry, and I'll be honest--I don't normally find myself all that involved with the main characters in this story, but here they actually sell me on them and their romance, making the tragedy of their senseless deaths genuinely moving.
Secondary Characters
Mercutio
Benvolio
Tybalt
Bitter, flamboyant, witty, misogynist yet charming--this Mercutio makes almost as many punny dick jokes as his Shakespearean predecessor, although sadly not all of them make it through in the subtitles. Mercutio's the kind of guy who's the life of the party--but who leaves your carpet wine-stained and littered with broken bottles and doesn't offer to help clean up afterwards. It's fairly easy to make an argument for reading him as bisexual, and in love with Romeo, depending on the actors. A kinsman of the Prince.
More good-natured and easy-going than Mercutio, Benvolio is Romeo's stable friend--although he's still one of the Montagues and not above some fairly nasty behavior of his own. Unlike Shakespeare, this Benvolio is an orphan adopted by the Montagues, not necessarily Romeo's cousin.
Perhaps the character most changed for the Hungarian production, this Tybalt is an angry, depressed mess with a fixation on his cousin Julia, some very weird chemistry with his aunt Capulet, and an intense mutual hate-on with Mercutio. His social skills mostly begin and end at shouting, but he's also aware that he's messed up--but unable to find his way out of his toxic environment. The fact that he's epileptic as well is probably the least of his problems.
Lady Capulet
Lord Capulet
Lady Montague
Lady Capulet's role is greatly expanded from Shakespeare, and through the course of the play her brittle facade of glittering society lady, wife, and mother slowly crumbles, revealing her unhappiness with the very role she's trying to marry her daughter into.
Perhaps one of the more sympathetic takes on Lord Capulet that I've seen, it's clear he genuinely cares about his daughter and he seems ready to let the feud die. Alas, his marriage has cooled to the point of farce--but his greatest problem, perhaps, is that he's ineffectual.
A widow, we don't see nearly as much of Lady Montague as of Lady Capulet, but they're equally matched in will, and it's clear Lady Montague is a political player in her own right--but even more disconnected from her son than the Capulets are from their daughter.
The Nurse
Friar Laurence
Paris
In the second scene, the most well-adjusted adult in the story joins Lady Capulet in telling Julia "Life is beautiful but very short, so grab a husband who won't beat you to death." The Nurse, while she loves Julia like her own daughter, is still caught in the terrible mindset of this Verona. (She's also pretty badass at handling Montague street punks.)
Friar Laurence serves as the narrator of the story, as well as Romeo's adult mentor figure, a role which he is slightly worse at than the Nurse. He seems conflicted about the earthly things he's given up for the Church, and in some versions seems to hang up his cassock at the end to become a storyteller.
A smarmy young nobleman courting Julia, Paris's main trait is that he has absolutely no idea what he's getting into on any level. He's not exactly likable, but he is entertaining. A kinsman of the Prince.
Escalus, Prince of Verona
Rosa
Peter
The well-meaning ruler of Verona, Escalus wants to stop the violence, but seems unable to gain any real control over the feuding families. His role is somewhat cut down from the original French production.
Rosa, Romeo's ex-girlfriend, seems to be a Montague hanger-on (not equivalent to Shakespeare's Rosaline), and she's not happy with him.
Peter is the Nurse's slightly hapless servant.
Ships
Romeo/Julia is of course canon, and frequently a background pairing in fic, as is Tybalt's unrequited love for Julia. While it's not really a big enough fandom for "popular" pairings to stand out, Tybalt/Mercutio is probably the most often written, perhaps mainly because of the angry facetouch:
This is the kind of show where everyone has chemistry with everyone, though, and the possibilities definitely haven't all been explored yet.
There are also many opportunities for gen exploring many of the relationships in canon, particularly the family relationships, Julia and the Nurse, and the Romeo-Benvolio-Mercutio friendship. Since this is such a tiny fandom, there's a lot of new territory to play in!
Resources
The Show
- Official information page for the show, which is still playing in repertory in Budapest with much of the original cast as well as alternate new cast members
- Watch a 2005 staging of Rómeó és Júlia with English or Russian subtitles: Act 1 and Act 2
- A Rómeó és Júlia resource post with links to some alternate videos (no subtitles) and other resources
- Online videos of Roméo et Juliette, if you're curious about other versions of this show
There are basically three fandoms that have produced fic that I know of: an older, mostly inactive English language fandom, primarily archived on LJ; current English language fandom, mostly on Tumblr and AO3; and Russian fandom, scattered over several archives and occasionally crossposted to AO3. Here are some places to find fic:
- Archive of Our Own: Rómeó és Júlia (Színház)
- Fanfiction.net: Roméo et Juliette: De La Haine a l'Amour (mostly French production fic)
- The old Yuletide archive: Romeo et Juliette (actually all based on the Hungarian production)
- Some personal journals with fic: spiegelsaal and fic_madness
- musicals_fic also has some fic if you dig back in the archives
- Most of the Russian fic I've found outside of AO3 is archived either in the 2013 Fandom Kombat European musicals section, which I think requires a Diary.ru account to view (PM me and I'll dig up the link), or at Ficbook.net in its own section
On Tumblr, both the rómeó és júlia and romeo es julia tags are sporadically active (although there's more art than fic--but great art!); the French production fandom is more active in the romeo et juliette tag.
(All lyrics quoted here are from the fan subtitles translated by cricep.)