Romeo and Juliet the play's "twin themes of love and the total breakdown of understanding between two generations" had contemporary relevance. Recent performances often set the play in the contemporary world. For example, in 1986, the Royal Shakespeare Company set the play in modern Verona. Switchblades replaced swords, feasts and balls became drug-laden rock parties, and Romeo committed suicide by hypodermic needle. In 1997, the Folger Shakespeare Theatre produced a version set in a typical suburban world. Romeo sneaks into the Capulet barbecue to meet Juliet, and Juliet discovers Tybalt's death while in class at school. The play is sometimes given a historical
Romeo and Juliet (Hebald) Romeo and Juliet (Hebald) Romeo and Juliet is an outdoor bronze sculpture depicting Romeo and Juliet by American artist Milton Hebald, located in front of Delacorte Theater in Manhattan's Central Park, in the United States. It is one of two companion works at the theater sculpted by Hebald, the other being "The Tempest" (1966). Unveiled in 1977 and cast in 1978, "Romeo and Juliet" was donated by philanthropist George T. Delacorte, Jr. The sculpture is tall; the two figures, shown embracing, are set on a granite pedestal. A cast from the same mold appears in the rose garden at the