NPX Weekly Round-Up: LADY CAPULET by Melissa Bell

The backstory behind Romeo and Juliet, somehow even messier than the original? It's more likely than you think. Plus, three other plays I found this week!

I love a good retelling, interpretation, historical fiction, etc etc. If a story takes inspiration from certain points in history (Tudor War of the Roses, anybody?), Shakespeare, or mythology especially? I’m seated. So…is it any surprise that I’ve had LADY CAPULET by Melissa Bell on my TBR for a year or so?

Nope, not at all!

Romeo and Juliet was the first Shakespeare play I ever read. I picked it up of my own volition sometime in middle school, and I read my No Fear Shakespeare copy multiple times. Like a lot of twelve year old girls, I was enamored with the idea of “forbidden love” and well…love in general. At that age, I found the story so achingly tragic and beautiful. As an almost thirty year old though? I feel quite differently! While the play is clearly one of Shakespeare’s stronger ones, my view on it is a lot more nuanced now that I’ve lived a little bit of life. And this interpretation of the story from Lady Capulet’s point of view pairs with that nicely— it makes the story even messier, and I found myself gasping once or twice as I read like I was watching the newest season of Love is Blind or something.

Anyways— here is the summary of the play from NPX:

What caused the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets? This prequel to Romeo and Juliet follows the journey of Rose from country girl to matriarch, navigating her repression and power in 16th Century Verona in a time when family, money, power and gender determine everything.
Using heightened language, LADY CAPULET asks large questions about women’s place in the culture through a Shakespearean lens and features a strong female lead.

We open with the Prince’s ending monologue from Romeo and Juliet, as the funeral procession leaves the tomb. Our focus is then turned to Lady Capulet, whose first name is Rose, as she hints at many family secrets that lead to this tragic affair. She begins to tell the story to the corpses of Juliet, Romeo, and Tybalt, which leads us to a party in Verona, not dissimilar from the one at the beginning of the source material.

Rose is not yet Lady Capulet, having just arrived in Verona from the country for her brother Lucio’s wedding to the Prince’s cousin, Helena. She is young— just as young as Juliet is at the beginning of the original play. She is lamenting her unfashionable dress when she spies a man named Montague. Yeah, you read that right: Montague. They dance, and things get steamy quickly. Montague tells her that the Prince just granted him permission to marry her, and Rose is excited. They escape to Rose’s chambers where they sleep together. Rose’s Nurse (yes, the same Nurse) comes in afterwards and figures out what happened. She helps Rose clean up and sends her back down to the party where it is revealed that actually…Rose isn’t betrothed to Montague like he said. She’s about to be betrothed to Capulet. Rose is, of course, heartbroken and betrayed.

At Rose’s wedding to Capulet, she seems fairly happy. Capulet treats her well and seems to at least like her, if not love her. But when Rose eats a plum that turns her stomach, the audience can see that the mess ain’t over just yet. Because of course— Rose is pregnant with Montague’s baby. And she’s gotta make sure Capulet sleeps with her so she can pretend that it’s his instead. However, Capulet is older than Rose by quite a bit (yiiiikes) and has some suspicions. After a lot of verbal sparring, Rose is able to convince Capulet to sleep with her. And somehow, the mess continues.

Rose is, of course, farther along than she should be if the baby is her husband’s. So, she convinces her brother to let her stay with him until the baby is born and she can figure something out. Helena, Lucio’s wife, also happens to be pregnant at the time. However, her pregnancy is noooot going well. She is extremely sick, and the midwife thinks the baby might not survive. Rose makes the Nurse brew a tea to quicken labor, which she gives to herself and Helena. When Helena’s baby girl is unfortunately stillborn, they pull a switcheroo: Rose claims Helena’s deceased child as hers, and gives Lucio her healthy baby boy to claim as his. And guess what? Lucio names him Tybalt. Yep…turns out, Lady Capulet isn’t Tybalt’s aunt, but his mother. And, gasp of all gasps, Tybalt is also a Montague. Capulet completely falls for this plot and is no longer suspicious of Rose in any way.

On top of all of this, Montague’s dad owed Capulet’s dad money, and that debt was never paid. Capulet sees that Montague clearly is into his wife. Plus all the aforementioned mess? Yeah…you can see how the feud began pretty clearly.

I know I don’t usually give that much synopsis, but I just had to convey to you guys how absolutely insane this backstory is. I was shaken. And then when we see Lady Capulet’s side of the original story, things get even crazier! But I’ll leave that as a mystery— I don’t want to reveal everything!

Despite the source material being a classic play seen as a masterpiece by a lot of people (and perhaps even as stuffy), this play reveals something about it that is perhaps neglected: the absolute almost-soap-opera-level drama. I think audiences sometimes forget that drama makes for really good storytelling; after all, why do reality shows continue to do well? Drama and “mess” is captivating, it draws us in, it makes us feel like we know a secret. And that feeling is enticing. This work knows that, and uses it to its advantage. The dramatic tension is this piece is palpable because of it!

This really reminded me of a masterclass I took with Alyssa Haddad-Chin that utilized reality shows as a way in to conflict and scene within playwriting. We have this idea that reality shows are “unserious”, and in a lot of ways they are. But that doesn’t mean we can’t steal their sense of stakes to build upon our stories of any genre. It also calls back, in my mind, to the idea of “turns” in playwriting coined by Steven Dietz. Sometimes I think we as writers are afraid to put in “too many” turns, afraid of confusing the audience or making the plot unnecessarily complex or cheesy. But if this play proves anything, it’s that more is more! You can always take things away, but perhaps we shouldn’t be afraid to inject a little messiness into our narratives. After all, isn’t life messy?

Here is my official review from NPX:

A masterfully woven tale of love, betrayal, stubbornness, and misguided revenge. I love how Bell takes a very minor character from the original and makes her into a three-dimensional, messy, and captivating person. I also want to commend Bell on her use of heightened language! Writing is hard enough in "normal" English, and she is able to create understandable and beautiful dialogue.

What did you think of this play? Let me know in the comments!

Here are three more plays I found this week:

• [the inner universe] by Sam Heyman

• 3 Days by Caridad Svich

• In The End by Sharai Bohannon

Want me to read one of these plays? Or have another suggestion for me? Let me know by responding to this post via email, DMing me on the SubStack app, or leaving a good ol’ fashioned comment!

Happy theatre-making!

~Brynn