HALSEY’S HOPELESS FOUNTAIN KINGDOM. A transmedial reformulation of Romeo and Juliet.

This paper aims at analysing the transmedial reformulation authored by the singer Halsey in her rendering of a Romeo and Juliet’s narrative. After exposing the fundamental principles of transmediality, this study will highlight how Halsey strategically used different media in order to give a more dynamic fruition of her content and augment the audience’ immersion in the universe of Hopeless Fountain Kingdom. The video clips of the songs and their lyrics, which compose the concept album, will be put in comparison with the original Shakespearean play and the aesthetics references to another reformulation of it – namely, Baz Luhrmann’s movie Romeo+Juliet. The objective of the analysis is to enquire into the reformulation strategies of the original source text, which are meant to rework an existing narrative and generate a new version, with profound differences in the story and in the characters’ representation. The analysis will not only highlight the transmedial storytelling techniques; it will also underscore the enduring relevance of transmedia practices in contemporary creative expression.