Unit 5: Vocabulary from Readings 3

As part of the 2012 Summer Olympics hosted in London, the Royal Shakespeare Company challenged theater groups around the world to create contemporary re-imaginings of 16th century playwright William Shakespeare’s classics.

Adapted into colloquial Arabic and performed by an Iraqi cast with English subtitles above the stage, the story, while written in an Iraqi context, is a familiar one.

It opens with two brothers, Montague and Capulet, who have feuded for nine years over who will steer their family’s pearl-diving ship. This serves as an apropos metaphor for Iraq at the beginning of the war.

During the most emotional moment of all, I felt almost swept off my chair at the audience's roar of approval as the imposter, who was betrothed to Juliet against her will, and who had stoked the tension between the two families, was cast out by Juliet's father, Capulet.

During the most emotional moment of all, I felt almost swept off my chair at the audience's roar of approval as the imposter, who was betrothed to Juliet against her will, and who had stoked the tension between the two families, was cast out by Juliet's father, Capulet.

The drama was a chance to create enough distance from their own stories so that they could look at the effect of the last nine years on their homeland, with its immense loss, death, and suffering.

It was an opportunity to move on, make sense, find catharsis, and even laugh.

In this case, a love story is a portal into a world that audiences might otherwise never be able to begin to understand.

By connecting with the story of young lovers—a theme that transcends time and culture—we can learn about the nuances of today's Iraqi society.

By connecting with the story of young lovers—a theme that transcends time and culture—we can learn about the nuances of today's Iraqi society.