Romeo And Juliet

First Act

The Street

The night is coming to an end. Verona. Short hours of a dipped into drowsiness city. There is whisper of beloved couples, embraces, kisses. As if everything breathes with love… but what is it? Some strange shades flicker among the kissing couples, hide behind the vaults of palaces and galleries, dart on the square. They are everywhere and in everything, they are the part of the city and life of their inhabitants…

Dreamy and again enamoured Romeo roams the night streets.

Here are his true friends Benvolio and Mercuccio, always ready for spoofs and mystifications. Fooling and teasing around, they scare away the couples. Day is breaking. These strange shadows crawl away after the running away lovers… And for our friends it is also time to go home. Only Mercuccio, who has nowhere to hurry, carefree stretched right on the square…

Morning flares up. The first passersby appear on the square. Everyone is attracted by the sight of a sleeping reveler. The Veronese don’t lose their chance to play a joke on the first wag in the city – Mercuccio. Merry jerk and kicks turn into a sparkling with jokes national dance, into which finally awaken Mercuccio fall in. Everyone is covered with a general merriment. But as soon an arrogant Tybalt appears with his friends, the crowd forsakes. Tybalt is irritated as if he is searching for a reason to quarrel.

The couple accidently attracts his attention. The youth – from a servant of the Capulet – kisses a girl – the servant of Montague. How dare them! – and Tybalt hits the servant. But right away Montague’s servants start to mimic Tybalt, who is like an infuriated animal throws himself on the first came to hand. Accidently his sight falls on a laughing Mercuccio. Here is a reason for a quarrel, where each party is puts up with the involved in a wrangle crowd. Mercuccio, still joking, offers to try conclusions using swards. But Tybalt’s servants threateningly surround him, but here friends hurry to help Mercuccio – Romeo and Benvolio. The servants stand up in a raw after the owners Montague’s servants. Now it is a duel. This is a fight of one house on a house, family on a family, clan on a clan. Servants, relatives, sons and heads of the quarreling families fight. Even seniors Montague and Capulet join the wrangle. Everything breathes with spite and hatred. And then strange figures born with Animosity appear. They rejoice, cling to hot with the fight rivals, and the one who appears in their "embraces" once and for all bid farewell to the life. The streets of Verona are stained with dark blood of Enmity.

The house of the Capulet

Juliet’s room. The girl’s soul is enveloped either in childish carefree merriment, or in sudden unaccountable sadness. Indistinct dreams and impulse worry her – a ball is coming, where she will be introduced to her future husband. Among the menacing rock walls Juliet grows like a flower, not thinking about what is prepared for her by the fate – to continue the family of the Capulet’s.

The ball starts. Noble families of Verona arrive. Among the guests there is her fiancé – Paris. Under the mask, by stealth, unbidden guests sneak into the house – Romeo with friends. Just for a second Romeo and Juliet run into each other, but this is enough to notice each other. Tybalt also notices the unknown, sensing that he is an enemy. He tears away the coat from Romeo, but the inventor Mercuccio put Tybalt into a funny position. Magnificent ceremony of knightly dances gives way the duet of Juliet and Paris. By tradition of the house of the Capulet’s there is consecration of Paris into the knights.

Juliet is sad around all these magnificence. And again she sees the unknown in front of her. Who is he? Juliet is trying to take off his mask, but it is not that easy: the unknown doesn’t want to be recognized. But they are attracted to each other irrepressibly. And now, finally, Juliet manages to tear away the mask. Romeo is recognized. He is from a family of the hated Montague! Confusion turns into despair – why is it you, Montague? But it’s too late – "I am an embodiment of the hated power inopportunely not knowing fell in love!" the first kiss. Having forgotten about everything in the world, she doesn’t notice Tybalt, and he is in fury: Montague in a house of the Capulet! Tybalt is ready to kill Romeo right away, but the father stops him: blood shouldn’t be spilled in their house, Romeo should leave the ball. And again Mercuccio turns everything into a joke, absorbing the guests’ attention and sympathy to him. The ball is over. The guests leave. Tybalt throws himself at the leaving Romeo.

Hiding in the shades of the trees, Romeo sneaks into the garden of the Capulet. Here is the balcony. A famous adagio starts, where Romeo and Juliet make declaration of love.

"My love’s without a bottom, and kindness –
As marine wide expanse. The more I spend,
The more immense and wealthier I get"

Second Act

At Lorenzo’s

Romeo and Juliet decide to combine their fates. They entreat the father Lorenzo for accomplishing the secret church wedding ceremony. Amazed by the power of feelings of the young lovers, Lorenzo joins their hands and appeals to the God with hope that this alliance will finally reconcile the Montague and the Capulet families.

Carnival

The night is falling on Verona. The carnival is in full play with its dances, masks, jokes, wine and unrestrained fun. The matinee idol of the public Mercuccio is in the centre of everything. And only Tybalt is alien to this fun, being busy with one thought: to find and kill Romeo, who dared to overstep the laws of family enmity. He is even ready to fight with his friend – Mercuccio, but he doesn’t search for a quarrel at all and dismisses the matter with a joke. They are either united, or separated by the carnival, but they are already marked by the Enmity, even not noticing that the Enmity made them their hostages, that they are destined to become its victims.

Romeo appears in the crowd, he is in a hurry to share with his joy with Mercuccio, and he wants to hug his friend. Tybalt separates them, he thirsts for a duel. Romeo parries the blade; he doesn’t want to fight Juliet’s brother. Then Tybalt insults him, longing for a quarrel. Now Mercuccio is ready to fight for a friend. But Romeo doesn’t let him to unsheathe the sword. Let’s be friends! Vainly. Tybalt doesn’t want reconciliation. Insults are turning more and more painful, and Mercuccio does under, snatches out the sword that was helpfully given up by the Enmity.

In the duel Mercuccio is more agile than Tybalt. Here is his sword near offender’s chest. But he is generous. The duel may seem to be finished, and Mercuccio hurries to hug the first pretty girl in a crowd. And in his embrace there is the same Enmity, kissing him and simultaneously giving the sword to Tybalt. A mortal stab into the back. Mercuccio is still trying to joke around, but the powers leave him. "Plague, take both of you families!"

He dies in the hands of the shocked Romeo.

Tybalt triumphs. Being in despair Romeo snatches out came to hand blade. The blade, embedded by the Enmity.

The carnival is rumpled. The masks scatter. Impetuous like a whirlwind fight is surrounded by the triumphant images of the Enmity. Romeo stabs Tybalt.

There is sorrow in the house of the Capulet. Mourning grandeur of the funeral procession is another triumph of the Enmity. Romeo and Juliet understand that there is an abyss between them.

"Romeo is banished!" – this is a depth of despair without a bottom or an end.

Third Act

"For never was a story of more woe…"

Juliet’s room. The last night before the parting. Romeo can no longer stay in Verona. There is no force to part with beloved. Morning comes. "Rosy day and even darker the parting". Romeo is waiting for the banishment. He bids farewell to Juliet. Another kiss – and he leaves.

Juliet is in despair. Senior and senora Capulet burst into the room. They demand from Juliet her agreement to marry Paris. Her resistance only strengthens her parents’ anger. Paris appears, offering her his love. But Juliet turns down such an enviable marriage. And then, the parents swear that in any case she will become Paris’ wife.

Being alone, in sorrow and despair she can’t find a place for herself. She rushes to Lorenzo, begs him for advice. Lorenzo offers her a somnifacient, after drinking of which Juliet will drift into sleep that will look like death, and it will last till the time Romeo returns to Verona. With joy and gratitude Juliet accepts this plan – it will safe her from the hateful marriage with Paris. She hurries to fulfill what was said to her by the pater Lorenzo. Juliet drifts into sleep that is seemed to be a death to everyone. And right away, together with this "slumber", images of Enmity approach to her, as if anticipating and predicting by their gloomy dance the coming tragedy and the death of beloved.

Family vault of the Capulet. Maddened with sorrow Romeo appears. His Juliet is dead! Life is senseless. Only one thing is left – is to unite with her dear in death. Romeo drinks poison and stops dead near the body of awaken Juliet. Romeo is dead. Why should she live? She inserts into Romeo’s hands stiletto and stabs herself to death. "For never was a story of more woe…"

Two families – Montague and Capulet – gather together near the lifeless bodies of their children. The death of beloved puts an end to enmity of many years. The fathers stretch hands to each other. But… "your approaching is embraced with twilight. Through thickness of clouds the sun of eyes is not shown". The enmity steps back from them, but it doesn’t leave.

It stays between the people. Because everything that can kill it also stays. Because human vice is left that over and over again revive it. This truth keeps soar over the centuries and generations, over numerous tragedies of the past and present.