Retribution - Marcus Hogan

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Biographie:
I conceived this project in Boston during the summer of '92 while producing my first Shakespeare (Romeo & Juliet). It was staged at the Huntington Theatre Studio and sold out before we opened. That was when the notion of a prequel was born that would reveal how the famous families came to be at each other's throats, and how the associations between so many characters were first formed. The full story frame of Capulet (6 books) was written over 4 years writing 7 days a week 7 hours a day with just a few exceptions.For the trivial record, my first experience with Shakespeare was as a punishment in my last year of high school. I was given a detention for fighting (a bully was harassing a friend and though I'm no hero I intervened). The English Mistress who caught us made me memorise the 'quality of mercy' monologue from The Merchant of Venice. It had to be word perfect to avoid another stay. She told me it wasn't word perfect. But she said I was 'good' and would let me off if I agreed to audition for the play. I did. Somehow I managed to get the lead.That led me to a BA in Drama at the University of Queensland. UQ led me to a BFA in Acting at Cornish College in the USA. That led to specialised study at the National Shakespeare Conservatory in NY (closed after 9/11) and finally an MFA scholarship to study Directing at Boston University. Fast forward 25 years. I began this project in earnest during the last few months of the pandemic.I hope their tale moves you as I found it very moving to write.Marcus Hogan...

Sommaire:
The epic prequel continues. A grim bell tolls as a nemesis rises. The Capulets will discover that ambition has a price, everything has a price. One day after the extraordinary events of the foot race festival, one year after the Montecchi's primo don was killed in the duel against Armand de Capulet, their blood feud explodes on the streets of Verona. The body count quickly rises. Two grisly murders are discovered. Many on the Montecchi side are suspected. In a dangerous game of cat and mouse, one potential target is smuggled out of Verona as the Duchess de Paris swears her own pact of vengeance against the Montecchi. But with a son and heir now born to both sides (Romeo Montecchi and Thibault de Capulet) the factions meet to negotiate a peace as a Montecchi rebel schemes to destroy all hope for it. Two more Capulets are born, Armand and Ilaria's daughter Rosaline and her cousin Juliette. Then a startling political announcement is made that will alter the balance of power among the factions and change their lives forever. A grand Winter Ball follows. In what should serve as a definitive act of retribution, a clutch of assassins are activated by Countess Montecchi to kill Armand. Before the final chapter closes on Book 5 - Retribution, two more will perish to lay open the path for the series finale in Book 6 - Folly. Who will live to see it begun?...