ABC's 'Still Star-Crossed' follows 'Romeo and Juliet' with soapy period drama

We all know things didn't end well for Romeo and Juliet in Shakespeare's classic tragedy. But the war between the Capulets and Montagues rages on, and it's at the heart of a soapy new period drama debuting this week on ABC.

In “Still Star-Crossed,” premiering Monday, May 29, life goes on in the 16th century Italian village of Verona as Prince Escalus (Sterling Sulieman) takes the throne with an eye toward ending the bloodshed between the warring clans, but he finds his only solution forces him to choose between following his heart or protecting his kingdom. Princess Isabella (Medalion Rahimi) is eager to help her brother rule, but realizes obtaining power as a woman will require her to submit to a twisted scheme, one to which Romeo's cousin Benvolio (Wade Briggs), the heir to the Montague name, must also sign on. Lord Montague (Grant Bowler) will stop at nothing to ensure his family is the most respected name in Verona.

On the Capulet side, Rosaline (Lashana Lynch) finds herself in the middle of a political play that forces her to choose between loyalty to family and kingdom, while sister Livia (Ebonee Noel) is a hopeless romantic whose yearning for marriage makes her an easy target. Lord Capulet (Anthony Head) wants to maintain the legacy of the family name at any cost, as does his wife, Lady Capulet (Zuleikha Robinson), but she also harbors other ambitions that will eventually reveal themselves.

Filmed late last year in Spain, the hourlong series from Shondaland (“Grey's Anatomy,” “Scandal”) is a tangled web of love, political intrigue and family one-upsmanship that's based on a young adult novel by Melinda Taub.

“We all fell in love with the book and sort of the concept of, OK, so Romeo and Juliet are dead - what happens next?” executive producer Betsy Beers says. “And what would happen if you focus on, not Romeo and Juliet, but all the characters, the families and the city which were dramatically affected by their demise? And what happens? And in the book, they really find ways to explore some of the minor characters from the Shakespeare play who become our leads, and we go on this incredible journey with them as they try to keep Verona literally and figuratively from burning.”

At the center of the drama are Escalus and Rosaline, two long-time sweethearts whose potential union could alter the course of the feud.

“Escalus and Rosaline have been in love since their teens,” Lynch explains, “But because she's a Capulet and he's of the royal family and now a prince, it's tricky for them to even be in the same room together and relax around each other. The relationship is not going to happen right now but they're optimistic that the future will reveal some kind of opening for that.”

In Rosaline, Lynch found a character who is ahead of her time, one she describes as “fiesty, unashamed, honest, brutal, a huge feminist,” qualities that in 1500s Italy could get her into trouble.

“She's just a true young woman that you'd find today but just happens to be in the 16th century,” she says. “She's got a lot riding on her shoulders. She's a family woman, she's an orphan; both her sister and her are orphans so she's had to step into the maternal role very instantly. She's a woman of love and honor and respect and she's usually mature, but also has some flaws to her that make her quite interesting to play.”