In Shakespeare's

Directing Act 3, Scene 5

In Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” Act 3 Scene 5 is a crucial part of the play. It is the scene in which we see Juliet abandoned by all of her allies: Romeo, her parents and, to a certain extent, her nurse. It is also a scene where many of the themes of the whole play, such as fate, marriage, individual freedom and day and night, are developed.

The scene is hectic and contains numerous exits and entrances. It sets the pace for the rest of the play and the audience should feel that the lovers’ time together is running out. It is my role as director to bring out the full dramatic potential of the scene in my cinematic version.

I will focus on the part of the scene where Juliet and her parents are present, as I think their relationship is crucial to this scene.

In the first part of Act 3 Scene 5, before Romeo leaves, Juliet and him are in Juliet’s bed. The bed is surrounded by a canopy, a symbol of their relationship; cocooned together but not protected from the outside world. The lighting will be warm – like a sunset or sunrise shining through the curtains, again playing on the idea of night and day. Soft background music can be used, luring the audience into the dreamy state the lovers are in. The music changes, becoming solemn, at line 26 where Juliet snaps into reality, realising Romeo will die if he stays. “Come death, and welcome! Juliet wills it so.” The music’s tempo increases at line 36 when the nurse bursts in adding to the feeling that time is running out. After the nurse warns Romeo and Juliet of Juliet’s mother’s arrival, she leaves and Romeo goes. The farewells are rushed, again adding to the hectic feel of the scene. “Farewell, farewell! One kiss, and I’ll descend.”

When Juliet speaks lines 54-57 a special effects sequence will be used. This will be two shots superimposed over one another; one of Romeo running and stumbling over the Capulet garden (what Juliet is really seeing) and the other of Romeo drinking the poison and stumbling towards a dead body in a tomb. The body is not identifiable but the audience know this is a prophecy. When Romeo speaks lines 58–59 his voice sounds very quiet and faraway, a big close up of his face is used and his mouth moves in slow motion. All these effects add to ...

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The second part of Act 3 Scene 5 is where Juliet speaks with her mother before her father enters (lines 60-125). In this part of the scene I want the audience to realise the double meaning of Juliet and Lady Capulet’s conversation. I will do this by using flashbacks to show what each character is thinking. For example, at line 74 “let yet me weep for feeling such a loss” , a big close up of Juliet could be followed by a shot of Romeo leaving, then cut to Lady Capulet and a flashback of Tybalts death.

Line 94/95 is very interesting. There are two ways in which the line can be read: ‘til I behold him // dead is my poor heart, so far…” or …’til I behold him dead // is my poor heart, so far…”.

In order for the audience to clearly see that the line could be read in two ways and have two very different meanings, the line must be read in both ways as an interior monologue, one after the other with a big close up of Juliet’s face while her voice speaks the lines in the background. She then says out loud to her mother “’til I behold him dead // is my poor heart, so far…”.

When Lady Capulet tells Juliet about the arranged marriage, she should put her arm around Juliet and sit down on her bed with her. This shows she cares for Juliet and wants her to be happy. When Juliet speaks lines 105 and 106 she should seem a little cautious, showing the audience she is not used to conversations such as this with her mother.

Juliet’s fear increases at line 111. When Lady Capulet tells Juliet of the marriage there should be a long silence and a big close up of Juliet’s face trembling and pale. When Juliet speaks lines 116-123 she should not raise her voice, but as she speaks start to silently cry. At this point the audience should feel huge sympathy for Juliet. When Lady Capulet speaks lines 124-125 “Here comes your father, tell him so yourself; And see how he will take it at your hands.” Lady Capulet should not look at Juliet but speak them quietly, as she is shocked at Juliet’s response and thinks she is being extremely ungrateful.

When Capulet enters with the nurse he should open the door quietly and pop his head round before coming in. Lady Capulet should stand up, to distance herself from Juliet and show respect to her husband; the nurse should follow Capulet in. Capulet should then sit down next to Juliet and speak his lines caringly. He then pauses before turning and speaking to his wife. Lady Capulet delivers the line 139 “aye sir, but she will none, she gives you thanks” sarcastically and at line 140 mutters and shakes her head “I would the fool were married to her grave”. When this line is spoken the soft background music sounds more sinister for a moment. Capulet is very surprised at this point and becomes angry as he speaks lines 144/145 “Unworthy as she is, that we have wrought so worthy a gentleman to be her bride?” Juliet should become scared at this point and raise her voice. Her words should infuriate Capulet who replies very quietly and very angrily. He should not touch Juliet but stand and pull down the curtains from around her bed and overturn her bedside table. This destruction of the bed in which the lovers lay in minutes before is symbolic of their relationship being destroyed by their families. Line 158, “Fie, fie, what, are you mad?” spoken by Lady Capulet is usually thought to be directed at Capulet. However, in my version I would like Lady Capulet to be speaking to her daughter, as though her husband’s outburst has triggered her anger. I would like Lady Capulet to speak lines 160-163 before Capulet interrupts. I would also like the exchange between nurse and Capulet to be between Lady Capulet and the nurse as in my version Juliet and her nurse are very close and I want the audience to see that Lady Capulet is jealous of this. I will also omit line 175, spoken by Lady Capulet “you are too hot” as it contradicts with my characterisation of her.

Capulet’s speech (lines 176-195) should be built up dramatically. Up to line 184 he is despairing, then mocking in lines 185 and 186 “To answer ‘I’ll wed not, I cannot love; I am too young, I pray you pardon me’”. From there his anger mounts and peaks at his exit. In lines 187-195 he should not show any physical violence as his words are violent enough “…hang, beg, starve, die in the streets”. During Capulet’s final speech the nurse is forming a physical barrier between Capulet and Juliet, who is on the bed. Lady Capulet is across the room, detached. After Capulet’s exit Juliet gets up slowly and crosses the room, slowly, towards her mother, pleading with her “Delay this marriage for a month, a week”. She should reach her mother as she speaks her last line. Lady Capulet puts her hand over Juliet’s mouth and pushes her head against the wall. This sudden, unexpected violence adds to the drama of the scene. Lady Capulet then speaks her lines coldly and exits.

In the last, shortest part of the scene, the lighting should be gloomy and unflattering. Out of the window, the audience can see rain. There should be no music, only rain sound effects, adding to the lonely feeling of this part of the scene. Juliet has stopped crying by this point and seems grimly determined by the end of the scene. The nurse should seem close to Juliet and comforts her. When the nurse speaks line 217-225, where she tells Juliet it would be best to wed Paris, she should seem convincing but when she hugs Juliet at line 225 we see a close up of the Nurses face and she looks worried, showing the audience she does not believe her own words. After the nurse leaves, Juliet is shown in a medium long shot. This makes her look very lonely and reinforces the idea that she has been abandoned by all her allies. Juliet’s determination should show most in the last line, “if all else fail, myself have the power to die.”