A
street in Verona.
TYBALT Turn, Benvolio! Fight and see your death!
BENVOLIO I don’t want to fight.
TYBALT I hate Montagues. Fight, coward, fight!
They fight. Lord Montague and Lord Capulet enter
separately.
CAPULET What noise is this? Montague!
MONTAGUE You, villain Capulet! (They pull out their swords and fight.)
Prince Escalus enters.
PRINCE Stop fighting immediately! Stop! (They
stop fighting.) Montagues,
Capulets, I’m very angry with you. You are always fighting and Verona needs peace.
If you ever fight again, you will be executed. Is that clear? You’ll pay with
your lives.
BENVOLIO Good morning, cousin.
ROMEO Good morning. I’m very sad.
BENVOLIO What’s the matter?
ROMEO I love a woman but she doesn’t love me.
BENVOLIO That’s not a problem. There are hundreds of beautiful women in
Verona.
ROMEO Benvolio, you can’t understand. I love Rosaline. See you
later, my friend.
BENVOLIO Wait a moment! Listen to me: tonight, Lord Capulet is having a
party, the most beautiful women will be there.
ROMEO But the Capulets are our enemies.
BENVOLIO Don’t worry, we will be wearing masks.
ROMEO I’ll go, but just because Rosaline will
be there.
The party at Capulets’ house. People are dancing.
CAPULET Dance, dance! Enjoy yourselves! I wish I
were younger...
Romeo and Benvolio enter. They are wearing masks.
ROMEO Who’s that girl?
BENVOLIO I don’t know, sir
ROMEO She is the most beautiful girl that I
have ever seen.
TYBALT That voice... He must be a Montague. I’ll
kill him.
CAPULET What’s the matter, Tybalt?
TYBALT Uncle, that is a Montague! I think he is
Romeo. I’m going to kill him.
CAPULET Please, keep calm! He is a good boy and I don’t want any fight
in my house. (Tybalt leaves angrily.) Please, my friends, dinner is ready.
Come with me.
Everybody
leaves but Romeo holds Juliet.
ROMEO (To Juliet.)
I have never seen such a beautiful lady. Can I kiss your hand?
JULIET You can. You are very kind. (He kisses her hand.)
The nurse enters.
NURSE Madam, your mother wants to see you.
ROMEO Who is her mother?
NURSE Her mother is lady Capulet.
ROMEO Is she a Capulet?
JULIET Yes, I am. And you?
NURSE He is Romeo, he is a Montague, the son
of your great enemy.
JULIET I like him, he can’t be my enemy. Tell my mother I’ll be
with her in a minute. (The nurse leaves.)
ROMEO You are so beautiful!
JULIET Oh, Romeo!
ROMEO Listen to her. She is like an angel.
JULIET Oh, Romeo, Romeo! Your name is my enemy
but not you.
ROMEO My name is not a problem, call me “my love”. I don’t want to
be Romeo if you don’t like this name.
JULIET If someone of my family finds you
here, he will kill you.
ROMEO I want to die if you don’t love me.
JULIET But I love you, I love you, I love
you!
ROMEO If you love me, come with me tomorrow morning to see Father
Lawrence. He will marry us.
JULIET I’ll be there, my love.
ROMEO A thousand times good night!
ROMEO Good morning, father.
F. LAWREN Good morning, Romeo. How is Rosaline?
ROMEO Rosaline? I have
forgotten that name. I love Capulet’s daughter and she loves me. I want you to
marry us today.
F.
LAWREN Juliet! Yesterday you loved
Rosaline.
ROMEO Yes, father; but she didn’t love me.
F. LAWREN I’ll help you. If you marry Juliet, your
families might be friends.
ROMEO (Shouting.) Juliet! Sweet Juliet!
Juliet enters.
JULIET Here I am, my love.
ROMEO Father Lawrence is going to marry us.
F. LAWREN Juliet, do you love Romeo?
JULIET Yes, I do.
F. LAWREN Romeo, do you love Juliet.
ROMEO Yes, I love her.
F. LAWREN Now, you are married. Romeo, love and look
after Juliet.
ROMEO I’ll do it, father. I love her.
JULIET We will be very happy.
A street in Verona. Benvolio and Mercutio are talking.
BENVOLIO Remember, Mercutio, we mustn’t fight.
MERCUTIO That’s very difficult. I hate Capulets.
Tybalt enters.
TYBALT Gentlemen! Have you seen Romeo?
MERCUTIO That’s none of your business!
Romeo enters.
TYBALT Here, he comes. Romeo, I want to tell you something: you are a
villain!
ROMEO Tybalt, I see you don’t know me. I’m not
a villain.
TYBALT Stupid! Turn and fight! (He pulls his sword out.)
ROMEO Good Capulet, I don’t want to fight.
MERCUTIO This is incredible! Fight with me!
Mercutio and Tybalt start fighting.
ROMEO Stop, stop fighting! Remember what Prince Escalus said, we
mustn’t fight! Benvolio, help me to stop them!
Romeo stands in front of Mercutio, but Tybalt stabs Mercutio under Romeo’s arm and runs away.
MERCUTIO I’m fatally wounded.
ROMEO I’m sorry, Mercutio. I just wanted to
help. (Mercutio dies.)
Tybalt enters.
BENVOLIO Tybalt comes back again!
ROMEO Mercutio is dead! You have killed my
friend!
TYBALT And you, stupid boy, you will be dead
soon.
They fight and Tybalt dies.
BENVOLIO Romeo, go away! The prince will kill you! Go
away!(Romeo leaves.)
Prince Escalus, Montague and Capulet enter.
PRINCE Who started this?
BENVOLIO Oh, noble Prince! Tybalt killed Mercutio, Romeo got very angry and
killed Tybalt.
CAPULET Tybalt, my nephew! Romeo must die!
MONTAGUE Prince, Mercutio was Romeo’s friend. Romeo killed Tybalt because he
had killed his friend.
PRINCE This is my decision: Romeo must leave Verona and he will
never come back again. If he comes back, he will die.
The Capulets’ garden.
NURSE Horrible news, madam! Horrible news!
JULIET What’s the matter?
NURSE Dead, he is dead!
JULIET Romeo?
NURSE Tybalt is dead and Romeo must leave
Verona. He killed Tybalt.
JULIET If Romeo must leave Verona, that’s worse than Tybalt’s
death. I’m very unhappy.
NURSE Go to your bedroom. I know where Romeo
is.
JULIET Please, go and tell Romeo I can’t live
without him.
ROMEO Father, what do you know? What did Prince Escalus say? Am I
going to die?
F. LAWREN No, you aren’t; but you must leave Verona
immediately.
ROMEO Leaving Verona! That’s worse than dying,
Juliet lives here.
F.
LAWREN Listen to me: I’ll find a
solution.
Someone knocks at the door.
F. LAWREN Someone is knocking. Good Romeo, hide yourself. (Romeo leaves.) Who’s there?
NURSE Let me come in. I come from Lady
Juliet.
F. LAWREN Tell me, nurse...
NURSE (Entering.) Where is Romeo?
ROMEO (Entering.) Nurse! How is Juliet?
NURSE She is crying, she is very sad. She
wants to see you.
F. LAWREN (To Romeo.) That’s very dangerous. Go to Mantua
and stay there until I tell you what to do.
LADY CAP Dear husband, Juliet is very sad. She is
crying for Tybalt.
CAPULET I have got an idea. Next Wednesday we’ll celebrate Juliet’s
wedding with Paris. He is a rich nobleman and he loves Juliet.
LADY CAP Next Wednesday? That’s too soon.
CAPULET Next Thursday then. Call Juliet, we’ll talk
about it.
Lady Capulet leaves and returns with Juliet.
CAPULET Still crying for Tybalt’s death? Don’t worry, Romeo will pay for
that. (Juliet cries loudly.)
LADY CAP My child, your father hates seeing you so sad, he has decided to
have a day of great happiness.
JULIET What day is that?
LADY CAP Your wedding, darling. Next Thursday you are
going to marry Paris.
JULIET No, I’ll never marry Paris.
CAPULET (Angrily.) How, how! What do you mean?
JULIET Good father, listen to me...
CAPULET Don’t speak! Don’t reply! Don’t answer me!... If you don’t marry
Paris next Thursday, you won’t be my daughter any more.
JULIET Sweet mother, help me!
LADY CAP Don’t talk to me!
The church.
JULIET Father, have you heard the news about
my wedding?
F.
LAWREN Yes, I have. That’s terrible.
JULIET I need your help, father. (She takes out a knife.) If you can’t help me, I’ll kill myself.
F. LAWREN Stop! Give me that knife and wait a moment. (He leaves and returns with a bottle.) Listen, Juliet. Go home and tell
your parents you will marry Paris. Drink this liquor the night before your
wedding. You will sleep in such a way that everyone will think that you are
dead. They will put you in the Capulets’ tomb. Romeo and I will be there when
you wake up. Later both of you can run away to Mantua.
JULIET Give me, give me! I’m not afraid!
F.
LAWREN Now, go. I’ll send a friend to
Mantua with my message to Romeo.
Juliet’s bedroom. She drinks the liquor and lies on her bed. The nurse
enters.
NURSE Juliet... Wake up, Juliet... Come on, don’t be lazy! (She
shakes Juliet.) Lady!...
Lady!... (Crying.) Help, help! My lady is dead!
Lady Capulet enters.
LADY CAP What noise is that?
NURSE Look, look!
LADY CAP My child, my child! She’s dead! Help, help!
Lord Capulet and Paris enter.
CAPULET Where is Juliet? Paris is here.
LADY CAP Our child is dead! She’s dead!
CAPULET Let me see her!... She’s cold!... She’s
really dead!... I want to die...
PARIS Oh, my love! This is so cruel. On our
wedding day...
A street in Mantua.
ROMEO News from Verona! Hello, Balthasar. How
is Juliet? Is my father well?
BALTHASAR I bring bad news. Juliet is dead. I saw how they put her in the
Capulets’ tomb.
ROMEO Is that possible?... I must go to Verona. Balthasar, go and
bring the horses. (Balthasar leaves.)
If Juliet is dead, I don’t want to live. I’ll go to her tomb and there
I’ll drink some poison.
The church.
F.
LAWREN Tell me, Father John, did you
give Romeo my message?
F. JOHN I’m sorry, Father Laurence. I couldn’t find him. Here you have
the letter.
F.
LAWREN But, this letter was very
important...!
F. JOHN I’m sorry, father.
F.
LAWREN I must go immediately to the
cemetery, Juliet is going to wake up.
The Capulets’ tomb.
PARIS My love, these flowers are for you. Oh, beautiful
Juliet, I want you to know that I love you... What’s that noise? Someone is
coming! (He hides and Romeo enters.)
ROMEO Juliet! It was true!
Paris enters.
PARIS You are Romeo, you are a Montague! What are you
doing here? (He takes his sword out.)
ROMEO It’s not your business! Go and leave me
alone!
PARIS Come with me or fight!
They fight and Paris dies.
ROMEO Oh, my love! My wife! You are still so beautiful. Let me kiss
you again. I’ll drink this poison and soon, I’ll be with you. (He drinks the poison.) So, with a kiss, I die. (He dies.)
Father Lawrence enters.
F.
LAWREN Romeo! Oh, it’s too late! He’s
dead!
Juliet wakes up.
JULIET Father Lawrence! Where is Romeo?
F. LAWREN Romeo is dead and Paris too. Come with me Juliet, someone is
coming.
JULIET No, father, I won’t leave Romeo. (Father
Lawrence leaves.)
Romeo, if you are dead, I don’t want to live. (She
takes Romeo’s knife and stabs herself.)
Prince Escalus, Lord Capulet and Lord Montague enter.
PRINCE What is this?
CAPULET Juliet, Juliet is bleeding!
MONTAGUE And my son, Romeo is dead too!
Father Laurence enters.
F.
LAWREN I can explain everything.
PRINCE Say what you know.
F. LAWREN Romeo was Juliet’s husband. I married them. Juliet didn’t want to
marry Paris, so she drank a liquor and fall asleep, she wasn’t dead. Then the
plan went wrong and they have killed themselves.
PRINCE Capulet! Montague! This has happened
because of your fights.
CAPULET Oh, brother Montague! Give me your hand.
MONTAGUE I’ll build a statue of Juliet.
CAPULET And I’ll build a statue of Romeo. We will
never fight again.
PRINCE Go home now, and remember the sad story of Juliet and her
Romeo.