Juliet should be dressed in a plain nightdress as it is the morning and has just woken up when the nurse arrives and tells her that her mother is coming. The plainness of the dress and natural looking make-up would emphasise innocence, youth and beauty.
The scene should be set in Juliet’s bedroom as her and Romeo has spent the night together and Romeo leaves from her balcony. It should be in the morning, as Juliet will wonder why her mother needs to talk to her so early. The room should be bright as it is the morning and the sun will be shining in through the window. It should also be quite breezy, as the curtain will be blowing into the room.
In lines 64-125 of act 3, scene 5, Lady Capulet is telling Juliet that she should marry Paris on Thursday but Juliet says she will do no such thing. On line 64 of this section, Lady Capulet walks onto the stage and says; ‘Ho, daughter! Are you up?’ She should say it in a cheerful voice to show she is in a happy mood about Juliet’s marriage to Paris, which she has news of. The lighting should go bright as she arrives on stage to show she is happy about the marriage.
In line 81 of this scene; ‘Villain and he be many miles asunder.’ The spotlight should be on Juliet as she is talking away from Lady Capulet, to the audience about Romeo not being a villain. Everything else in lines 81-83 should be dark or blacked out and at about line 83, the light should gradually get lighter. The movement of Juliet in these lines should be sharp to shoe frustration and anger, which she is at Lady Capulet. She should be at the front of the stage to show she is actually talking to the audience and Lady Capulet should be in the dark, blacked out background, just walking around, to show that she is nervous and worried about what Juliet is going to say about Romeo, and the marriage to Paris.
The light becomes brighter when Capulet enters in line 125. This is because he is pleased and content about the marriage and has assumed that Juliet has agreed to it. This adds lots of tension because the audience knows Juliet has not agreed, and is afraid what Capulet will do or say to her when he finds out. Capulet will walk up to Juliet (about the centre of the stage) He will be wearing a costume that makes him look rich and in charge. Also something to emphasise his age and experience.
In line 139, you can tell that Lady Capulet doesn’t mind what her daughter wants, as she isn’t really mad at her when she refuses to marry Paris, and just leaves her husband, Capulet to do all the shouting. As she tells Capulet that Juliet won’t marry Paris, she should say it in a calm and quiet voice but still showing some signs of anger and disbelief. As lady Capulet says that line, I want the lighting to suddenly go dark as it will represent anger and fear and will add tension to this part of the scene. Just before Lady Capulet says the line; ‘Ay sir, but she will none, she gives you thanks.’ She will walk up to Capulet then say it, then she will walk away quite fast as she fears what Capulet will do to Juliet. In line 149 of this scene Capulet is very shocked and confused, you can see this in the line; ‘how, how, how, how, chopt-logic, what is this?’ Capulet can’t understand why she doesn’t want to marry Paris. The light should mostly be on Capulet as he is angry with Juliet and also so you can see his facial expressions, which will show anger and some shock. I want Capulet to be walking up and down the stage with his arm pointing at Juliet to show he has lost his temper with her and he is frustrated. In lines 150-159 Capulet starts to lose his temper and becomes aggressive in the line; “`Proud and ‘I thank you’ and I thank you not.’” Capulet starts to imitate Juliet as he is getting really annoyed with her as he has just found out that she has refused to marry Paris. The lighting on that line should go darker as it will increase the tension of the scene making it look angry and terrifying.
In line 160 of the scene, Capulet is becoming more and more angry, You will be able to tell this because his face will be bright red to show aggression and he will have a strain in his voice to show he has been shouting. This adds lots of tension to this part of act 3, scene 5. I want the lighting to go dark; this will also add lots of tension. Also I think there should be some low music in the background, which will start off very slow but gradually getting faster the more and louder Capulet shouts at Juliet. This will add even more tension to this part of the scene.
I want Capulet to blame the nurse in line 175, as this will show how angry he is. You can see this in the line; ‘peace you mumbling fool!’ I think the lighting should go quite dark, as it will show how irate Capulet has become, and it will also add tension.
In line 168, when the nurse says; ‘God in heaven bless her, you are to blame my lord to rate her so.’ She is trying to defend Juliet by saying this. As the nurse says this line, she should look worried and frightened of Capulet. The nurse should be dressed in her normal everyday uniform, with her hair tied back and no make-up on. The light should be normal daylight but will gradually get darker as she says her line, building up to when Capulet says his line.
In lines 196-203, Juliet is pleading her mother to delay the wedding, you can see this in line; ‘Delay this wedding for a month, a week; or, if you do not, make the bridal bed in that dim monument where Tybalt lies’ But Lady Capulet won’t listen to her as she supports Capulet in whatever he wants and does. The spotlight should be on Juliet as she is upset. Juliet should be sitting on the floor in tears and lady Capulet should be standing facing away from Juliet as this will show she is not listening, and has no interest in what she has to say.
I effectively used tension in act 3, scene 5 by adding lighting e.g. when it gets darker in line 139. I also used sound, movement and costume to add lots of tension;
E.g. I used low background music in line 160 to add more tension and I explained what costumes and make-up all the characters were wearing.
Also I explained the types of facial expressions on the characters face, e.g. when Capulet’s face went red to show his anger in line 160.