ROMEO AND JULIET DRAMATIS PERSONAE ESCALUS: prince of ...

JULIET I have.NURSE Then hie you hence to Friar Laurence' cell;There stays a husband to make you a wife: [Julietsqueals like a game show winner, and she and theNurse fall happily into each other’s arms]Now comes the wanton blood up in your cheeks,They'll be in scarlet straight at any news.Hie you to church; I must another way,To fetch a ladder, by the which your loveMust climb a bird's nest soon when it is dark:I am the drudge and toil in your delight,But you shall bear the burden soon at night.Go; I'll to dinner: hie you to the cell.JULIET Hie to high fortune! Honest nurse, farewell.[Gives her a quick affectionate kiss on the cheek andruns out to meet Romeo, exiting 3. The Nurse sighs,shakes her head and smiles indulgently after her.]BLACKOUT, SCENE CHANGE. Bench for FriarLaurence’s cell.ACT II SCENE VI Friar Laurence's cell.[Friar Laurence discovered alone onstage, praying.]FRIAR So smile the heavens upon this holy act,That after hours with sorrow chide us not! [EnterRomeo, Aabraham, Benvolio and Mercutio, from 4.]ROMEO: Amen, amen! but come what sorrow can,It cannot countervail the exchange of joyThat one short minute gives me in her sight:Do thou but close our hands with holy words,Then love-devouring death do what he dare;It is enough I may but call her mine. [While Romeo istalking to Laurence, his friends take up a defensiveperimeter around the room, half-expecting to beattacked by Capulets at any moment.]FRIAR These violent delights have violent endsAnd in their triumph die, like fire and powder,Which as they kiss consume: the sweetest honeyIs loathsome in his own deliciousnessAnd in the taste confounds the appetite:[Enter JULIET from 4. Mercutio pulls a gun on her,then lowers it sheepishly as she realizes who justwalked in.]Here comes the lady: O, so light a footWill ne'er wear out the everlasting flint:A lover may bestride the gossamerThat idles in the wanton summer air,And yet not fall; so light is vanity.JULIET [Her eyes never leaving Romeo’s; for them,there’s no one else in the room] Good even to myghostly confessor.FRIAR Romeo shall thank thee, daughter, for us both.JULIET As much to him, else is his thanks too much.FRIAR [Coming between the two of them, hastily]Come, come with me and we will make short work.For, by your leaves, you shall not stay aloneTill holy church incorporate two in one.DIM LIGHTS TO HALF, SPECIAL ON CENTER[Pantomime the wedding scene, on the dais if possible]BLACKOUT, SCENE CHANGE: Street scene.ACT III SCENE I A public place.[Discover MERCUTIO, BENVOLIO sitting on the steps,Mercutio’s head cradled in Benvolio’s lap. There’s a halfempty bottle of vodka close at hand. A homeless womanbegs them for money. Benvolio, soft touch that he is, givesher some, and Mercutio passes her the bottle. She takes along drink, hands it back and wanders upstage. Sampsonand Gregory enter from 6, notice Benvolio and Mercutio,and alter their course to exit 7.]BENV I pray thee, good Mercutio, let's retire:The day is hot, the Capulets abroad,And, if we meet, we shall not scape a brawl;For now, these hot days, is the mad blood stirring.MERC Thou art like one of those fellows that when heenters the confines of a tavern claps me his sword upon thetable and says 'God send me no need of thee!'BENVOLIO Am I like such a fellow?MERC Come, come, thou art as hot a Jack in thy mood asany in Italy, and as soon moved to be moody, and as soonmoody to be moved.BENVOLIO And what to?MERC [Affectionately] Nay an there were two such weshould have none shortly, for one would kill the other.Thou! why, thou wilt quarrel with a man that hath a hairmore, or a hair less, in his beard, than thou hast: thou wiltquarrel with a man for cracking nuts, having no other reasonbut because thou hast hazel eyes: what eye but such an eyewould spy out such a quarrel? Thy head is as full of quarrelsas an egg is full of meat, and yet thy head hath been beatenas addle as an egg for quarrelling: thou hast quarrelled witha man for coughing in the street, because he hath wakenedthy dog that hath lain asleep in the sun: didst thou not fallout with a tailor for wearing his new doublet before Easter?with another, for tying his new shoes with old riband? andyet thou wilt tutor me from quarrelling!BENV An I were so apt to quarrel as thou art, any manshould buy the fee-simple of my life for an hour and aquarter.MERCUTIO: [Teasing] The fee-simple! O simple![Benvolio is trying to decide whether or not he feels likequarreling or laughing, somewhere between tenderness andexasperation when he notices TYBALT, SAMPSON andGREGORY entering from 7.]BENVOLIO By my head, here come the Capulets.MERC By my heel, I care not.TYBALT: Follow me close, for I will speak to them.Gentlemen, good den: a word with one of you.MERC And but one word with one of us? couple it withsomething; make it a word and a blow.13