Politics, Poetry and Popular Music: Remixing Neruda’s Romeo y Julieta

This chapter focuses on Jerry Ruiz’s work directing a staged reading of Neruda’s play in 2016 as part of The Public Theater’s Mobile Unit Shakespeare program, which tours to correctional facilities, homeless shelters, and community centers throughout New York City. This unique project tried to overcome the barriers that Spanish-speaking communities potentially face in accessing Shakespeare. In the summer of 2016, following the Mobile Unit’s formula of stripped down stagings and texts, an abridged version of Neruda’s work was performed. During the rehearsal process, my collaborators and I discovered the power of music to illuminate Shakespeare’s play for Spanish-speaking audiences. Ruiz explains how interpolating well known Spanish-language songs by Violeta Parra and Luis Alberto Spinetta helped blossom the play into Mala Estrella, an evening of music and excerpts from Romeo y Julieta.