Romeo and Juliet

The love of passionate teenagers (or is Romeo twenty-three?) is not a particularly noble or wise example for the rest of us. “See, what a scourge is laid upon your hate, that heaven finds means to kill your joys with love."

For a synopsis, see Wikipedia.

For those of you who provide parts a scene at a time, this Character Chart shows all the characters' lines in each scene: Romeo and Juliet

If your group reads the plays straight through in one sitting and you want to divide up the parts, we have a number of “cast” lists already divided up for you. These are text files that you can edit to suit your group. We always recommend in a straight-through read that each participant take a moment beforehand to mark their parts—then everything proceeds so smoothly.

• Romeo and Juliet for 7, plus Stage Directions
• Romeo and Juliet for 8, plus Stage Directions
• Romeo and Juliet for 9, plus Stage Directions
• Romeo and Juliet for 11, plus Stage Directions

For very short articles on a variety of topics in Romeo and Juliet, such as “Youth and Marriage," “Friar Lawrence's Herbs and Remedies," “Queen Mab and the Fates," and more, see Internet Shakespeare from the University of Virginia.

It is always fascinating to compare the original source story to Shakespeare's version. Why did the playwright make particular changes? Here is the text of Arthur Brooke's story, published in 1562 (Shakespeare was born in 1564), Romeus and Juliet, at Shakespeare Navigators. Before you read the lengthy piece, however, check out this blog about reading Romeus and Juliet.

This is an audio recording of the play by professional actors with sound effects: