Love through the Ages Romeo and Juliet & West Side Story Written by Yael YaronAdapted from: Fast Forward/Sheila Davis ECB Books 2001

Introduction At the end of the 16 th Century, William Shakespeare wrote a play called Romeo and Juliet. This tragic play has remained one of the most popular love stories ever.William Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet Almost 400 years later Arthur Laurents wrote a musical play based on the same tragic story called West Side Story.Arthur LaurentsWest Side Story

Look at the words from a description of the plays which words do you think belong to Romeo and Juliet and which to West Side Story ? Some may belong to both. Copy the words to their correct place. Romeo & JulietWest Side Story Immigrants, melodic, fire escape, apartment building, in revenge, poison, gang leader, love at first sight, musical, eternal love, balcony, tragic, shoot a gun, community center, poetry, sword fight, blinded by rage

The Two Plays You are going to read short extracts ( קטע ) from the two plays. Read each extract and answer the questions:short extracts West Side Story 1. What does Maria think is dangerous? 2. In line 2, what does the word them refer to? 3. In line 3, what does the word them refer to? 4. What is a pet name? Have you got one? 5. What is Bernardo afraid of? 6. When Tony says: See only me?, what does he mean?

Replace the sentences in the text which are written in old English with a sentence written in modern English : 1. Change your name and we can be together. 2. Forget your family and change your name. 3. If you wont change your name, then tell me that you love me and Ill change mine. 4. Your name is my enemy, not you. 5. Why does your name have to be Romeo? 6. Even if we gave a rose a different name, it wouldnt change its smell. Romeo and Juliet

I.D Card Read the information about the two plays and design an I.D card for each of the main Characters in the two plays (Maria, Tony, Romeo & Juliet)two plays The I.D card must include the following: Name Family Name Date of birth Place of birth Name of parents Occupation Picture.

Look at following video clips from the two movies. In which ways are they similar, in which ways are they different? West Side Story Romeo and Juliet

Tragic Endings How do both plays end? Who dies? Write an obituary ( מודעת אבל ) for one of the characters in the two plays. You can use one of the following web sights to help you: Obituary - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Obituary - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The New York Times The Jerusalem Post obituaries