It’s a classroom murder mystery party with all the students as Romeo and Juliet characters! This idea came to me randomly one night and I stayed up all night making it happen. I knew it would be perfect for my R&J unit. Read on and I’ll share what I came up with and any snags I hit along the way.
Why a Murder Mystery Party?
I’ve done quite a few of these throughout my years teaching because there are so many benefits. Here’s a list of benefits with a few that are specific just to Romeo and Juliet.
- Students get to get up and move around as they interview each other.
- Students take on the character so they inevitably learn a lot about their character.
- The plot of the play is part of the plot of the murder mystery. They need to learn all the previous plot points in the play to find the murderer in the game.
- All the reasons above make this the perfect mid-play review game.
When to Have the Party
I knew I wanted to do it sometime during Act 2 since it would be a nice break for the unit and the perfect time to review. I ended up setting my murder mystery plot right after Act 2, scene iv. Here’s what’s happened so far: civil unrest between the two houses and clear identification of who supports Montague and who supports Capulet. Tybalt’s sent a challenge to Romeo, Romeo and Juliet have plans to get married in a few hours, and we start to see some sneaky tendencies from Friar Lawrence.
I wouldn’t do it at the beginning of the play. I think including parts of the plot is really helpful for students and keeps them engaged. I also wouldn’t do it much later than this because the play’s murders are about to pile up and you don’t want to confuse the students.
Does R&J Really Need Another Murder?
Probably not, but I don’t think Shakespeare would mind. That’s one of the reasons a murder mystery works so well with Romeo and Juliet. It would be hard to do with Catcher in the Rye or even The Great Gatsby. There’s generally little to no murders in those stories and very few characters that appear throughout the text. Romeo and Juliet is sword fights from the very start. Two families and all their men hate each other; easy motive for most characters and believable since many characters do actually murder each other.
However, I didn’t want to kill an actual character. It wouldn’t make sense with the rest of the play and it could confuse students. So, I made up a Capulet servant, but you could just as easily use a Montague servant. I suppose that you could use a generic townsperson, but I wanted the feud to be a part of the mystery. I wanted it to be important for the students to know which characters supported each house.
Who’s Guilty?
I used a servant as the murderer because again I didn’t want to stray too much from the actual story. I actually used a servant who is also with the Capulets. The family rivalry is a big red herring – and also really important to the play so I play it up in my mystery game.
Want More Specifics?
I already have a more detailed post about specifics in creating a murder mystery party in the classroom. Click here to check it out. For now, I’ll list out the basics of what you need and you can refer to the other post if you need more information.
- You need a map. It adds to the fun of the game and it helps students to visualize what is happening. I encourage mine to write down characters on the map so they can keep track. That’s what I have to do when I’m writing it to keep everyone straight.
- Each student needs a character card that includes their name, some background about how they knew the victim, and some clue that they can offer to anyone asking. See the picture above for a sample character card for Friar Lawrence.
- You need a background and introduction sheet. The first time I did this lesson students swapped character cards. It was obvious the one who didn’t swap was the murderer. You need to give explicit instructions about not doing that and about how to ask questions. Most students just need a little bit of a jumping off point and then they’ll take it from there. But this type of activity that is student driven is sometimes foreign to them. Guide them through with clear instructions.
- Each student needs a notes sheet. Keep students accountable by having them take notes on each character. It’s great practice for listening and notetaking skills.
- You need a victim and a motive for why he or she was killed. You also need a large cast of characters who are involved in some way with at least 6-8 who could also be the killer.
The After Party
Okay, so it’s more of a wrap-up than an after party. – but it sounds better this way. You’ll want to make sure you cover what parts of the murder mystery were true to the play and what parts you made up to help the story.
I needed all my characters to be out and about a small section of town in order to have them interacting and near the murder. Lady Montague really is upset about how melancholy Romeo is at the beginning of the play, so I have her going to the apothecary. It didn’t actually happen in the play. At the end I list out the things that I’ve used poetic license with to avoid confusion. Really, this won’t hurt their overall understanding of the play. However, I worry that one day someone will include Lady Montague at the apothecary in a literary essay as an example of foreshadowing with Romeo. This is a great opportunity for a True/False Kahoot!
