Romeo and Juliet

The company gathers for a rehearsal of Romeo and Juliet.

Town Square. Romeo Montecchi unsuccessfully courts Rosaline, becoming the butt of jokes from his friends Mercutio and Benvolio. Tybalt Capulet appears in the square. A skirmish he started leads to a street fight and innocent victims. The Duke forbids, under pain of death, henceforth to draw weapons on the streets of the city.

The ballroom in the Capulet house. The Lord and Lady Capulet introduce their daughter Juliet to Paris, her future husband.

The guests arrive at the ball. Romeo enters the Capulet house in the hope of seeing Rosaline. Mercutio and Benvolio come with him. In the crowd of guests Romeo runs into Juliet and they become infatuated with each other. Tybalt interrupts their communication recognizing Romeo as an old enemy and the uninvited guests are forced to leave the ball.

That same night Romeo and Juliet meet in secret and declare their love for each other.

The next morning, during the town festival, Juliet and Romeo exchange notes and arrange a meeting in the church. At the end of the festive service they hide in the church to be alone. They are discovered by Juliet's nurse and Friar Laurence.

The fun in the town square is interrupted by Tybalt: he is looking for Romeo to punish him for breaking into the Capulet house. Mercutio challenges Tybalt to a duel and is killed by his blow. Romeo decides to avenge the death of his friend and kills Tybalt in a duel. Unable to bear the grief, Lady Capulet dies.

In the morning, Romeo says goodbye to his beloved in Juliet's bedroom. He is banished from the town and must disappear at dawn. Paris comes and proposes to Juliet but gets rejected. The enraged Capulet invites Friar Laurence in the hope that the priest will bring his obstinate daughter to reason. Friar Laurence knows the secret of the lovers and brings a potion: after drinking it Juliet will fall into a dream similar to death and then will be reunited with Romeo, with the help of Laurence. Juliet pretends to be submissive and agrees to marry Paris. Left alone, she drinks the potion. Capulet, Paris and friends who have come to congratulate Juliet see her dead.

Juliet's body is taken to the family vault. On learning about the death of his beloved, Romeo returns secretly to the town and comes to the funeral. In desperation he kills Paris and takes the poison himself. Waking up after a dream Juliet sees the lifeless body of Romeo and stabs herself with her lover's dagger.

The rehearsal is over. The company leaves the theatre.