SYNOPSIS

ACT I

Scene 1. As day breaks, Romeo, son of Montague, comes back from a night fun. With the sunrise, the market place fills with townspeople, among whom are members of the two rival families, the Capulets and the Montagues. The Duke of Verona appears and warns the two factions that death will be the ultimate punishment if the feud does not stop.

Scene 2. Juliet receives her first ball dress from her mother, Lady Capulet, and learns that she is to meet the noble Paris to whom she will be betrothed on the following day. Now she must bid farewell to her childhood.

Scene 3. Guests appear for the Capulets' ball. Romeo and his friends Benvolio and Mercutio, masked, follow her to the ball.

Scene 4. Juliet dances with Paris but suddenly she and Romeo behold each other, and it is love at first sight. Tybalt, suspecting Romeo's identity, tries to start an argument but is prevented by Juliet's father who abides by the laws of hospitality.

Scene 5. On the balcony outside her bedroom Juliet dreams of Romeo. He appears below in the garden. They declare their eternal love.

ACT II

Scene 1. A carnival is in progress in the main square. Romeo, indifferent to the gaiety around him, is discovered by Juliet's nurse, who brings him a letter from her. She asks Romeo to meet her at the chapel of Friar Laurence.

Scene 2. In his cell, Friar Laurence joins young lovers in mariage.

Scene 3. At the height of the carnival, Romeo returns to the square. Tybalt accosts him but Romeo declines to fight. Mercutio, angered, engages in a duel with Tybalt, and dies at his hands. Romeo, distraught, turns on Tybalt and kills him.

ACT III

Scene 1. In Juliet's bedroom the lovers are awakened by the sunrise, and Romeo, under sentence of exile, must leave Juliet and Verona. Lord and Lady Capulet enter with Paris, but Juliet rejects him.

Scene 2. Juliet, appealing for help to Friar Laurence, receives a potion from him that will place her in a deathlike sleep. He explains that Romeo will find her in the family tomb and both can escape together.

Scene 3. Juliet agrees to her marriage with Paris. After he leaves with her parents, she takes the sleeping draught and is thought to be dead when her family and friends discover her.

Scene 4. Romeo, who has never received Friar Laurence's message revealing the plan, believes Juliet to be dead and rushes to her tomb. There he finds the mourning Paris and kills him. Embracing Juliet for the last time, he takes poison. Juliet awakens to find Romeo dead. Grief-stricken, she kills herself.