VOA标准英语2010年-Such Tweet Sorrow: Shakespeare's Romeo

Adaptation of Shakespeare's classic Romeo and Juliet plays out over Twitter as 'Such Tweet Sorrow'

William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet has been given a 21st century makeover. The star-crossed lovers' tragic¹ romance is being retold in real time on the social media site Twitter - and causing quite a stir in England.

Shakespeare's plays have been performed for 400 years. But never before like this. Such Tweet Sorrow, the newest version of Romeo and Juliet, is 'tweeted' online by six actors.

They make sure key elements in the plot are there. But for the most part, they improvise².   

Juliet is tweeted by Charlotte Wakefield. She says it's no easy feat³. "You have to kind of deliver so much of the story through your own written texts so it's difficult in that way because you have to get a character and a point across in 140 characters or less."

The question is, with only 140 characters and thoroughly⁴ modern slang, has the romance been lost?

James Barrett says his Romeo character still has it. "Romeo was getting a bit poetic⁵ last night so they were fun, coming up with those and telling the world about my poems," he said.  

But this Internet-savvy Romeo is very much a product of the 21st century.

"I'd describe him as a normal, average 19-year-old in England today. He very much loves the lads, loves going out, having a drink, having a dance, very close to his family - his father in particular - I think he's quite normal," Barrett said.

The idea is to get young people interested in Shakespeare.

"What's great about what we're doing is it allows them to come to it in their own terms and of course the thing that young people find most alienating⁶ about Shakespeare is the language, which feels like a different language to them and this isn't in anyway attempting to copy Shakespeare's language - it's written by young people in a language they would use," Director Roxana Silbert explained.

And the language is different.  Take Shakespeare's original.

Romeo: "Thus from my lips, by thine, my sin is purged⁷."

Juliet: "Then have my lips the sin that they have took."

Twitter talk is a different language all together. A language that appeals to British teenagers. 

And so with a little help from modern technology it looks like William Shakespeare may have won a whole new batch⁸ of followers⁹.
 

1 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

2 improvise   

v.即兴创作；临时准备，临时凑成

参考例句：

• If an actor forgets his words，he has to improvise.演员要是忘记台词，那就只好即兴现编。
• As we've not got the proper materials,we'll just have to improvise.我们没有弄到合适的材料，只好临时凑合了。

3 feat   

n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的

参考例句：

• Man's first landing on the moon was a feat of great daring.人类首次登月是一个勇敢的壮举。
• He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。

4 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

5 poetic   

adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的

参考例句：

• His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
• His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。

6 alienating   

v.使疏远( alienate的现在分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• The phenomena of alienation are widespread. Sports are also alienating. 异化现象普遍存在，体育运动也不例外。 来自互联网
• How can you appeal to them without alienating the mainstream crowd? 你是怎么在不疏忽主流玩家的情况下吸引住他们呢？ 来自互联网

7 purged   

清除（政敌等）( purge的过去式和过去分词 )； 涤除（罪恶等）； 净化（心灵、风气等）； 消除（错事等）的不良影响

参考例句：

• He purged his enemies from the Party. 他把他的敌人从党内清洗出去。
• The iron in the chemical compound must be purged. 化学混合物中的铁必须清除。

8 batch   

n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量

参考例句：

• The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
• I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。

9 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。