Romeo and Juliet - Southwark Playhouse

I’d seen this on the website before www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/show-whats-on/romeo-juliet/, and have to say most of “blurb” did not necessarily read to me as particularly aimed at schools, except the reference at the end (and now your quote Dr Jan Brock).

I also think they can appeal to 80s music lovers as noted here:

“Shakespeare’s timeless tale is set to some of the greatest sounds this country has ever created, exploring a generation of young people empowered by music and culture.”

They go on “This production is also part of our Shakespeare for Schools project, which will see over 2,000 local young people see the production for free at special matinee performances.”

I think it might well be more relevant in the 1980s to schools than what they might regard as “boring” 1580s. No doubt though it will appeal to the teachers!

[/quote]Believe me they regard the 1980s as boring too, they fall into the general classification of "the olden days". [/quote]

Indeed - to one extreme, anything not in the last year can be seen as “boring”. But take a story such as Billy Elliott - set in 1984 (or so) and the film and musical both very much depicting the politics of the time. So if there is a “universally” interesting story, it may still work to introduce just a little bit of recent history.

While it's definitely 'olden days', there are subcategories within that. My teenage kids listen to lots of music from the 60s onwards, including various 80s bands, and I've been in vintage clothes shops with my daughter that are packed with clothes from the 80s and 90s. So I think this could be done in a way that teenagers will find appealing. But also true that it might appeal to parents and teachers.

It is a crass bit of marketing spiel. The use of the word 'cool' is enough to prove that it will be anything other than cool.