Romeo and Juliet: The Balcony Scene
The most famous love scene ever written. Juliet at her window, Romeo in the orchard below, and two families who would kill him for being there.
Good for: classical audition, two actors, teen actors
William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act 2 Scene 2 (public domain, abridged)
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Capulet's orchard, night. ROMEO has slipped over the wall after the feast. JULIET appears at her window, believing she is alone. Abridged from Act 2, Scene 2 for a 3-4 minute rehearsal.
Characters
- JULIET - 13 going on fearless. Just met the one person she cannot have.
Voiced by Callirrhoe · Premium voice
- ROMEO - Young, reckless, and certain that walls and feuds are minor obstacles.
Voiced by Orus · Premium voice
The Scene
ROMEO
(seeing her above)
But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
JULIET
(to herself, unaware he hears)
O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Capulet.
ROMEO
(aside)
Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?
JULIET
'Tis but thy name that is my enemy. What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
ROMEO
(stepping from the shadows)
I take thee at thy word. Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized; henceforth I never will be Romeo.
JULIET
(startled)
What man art thou that thus bescreened in night so stumblest on my counsel?
ROMEO
By a name I know not how to tell thee who I am. My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself, because it is an enemy to thee.
JULIET
My ears have not yet drunk a hundred words of that tongue's utterance, yet I know the sound. Art thou not Romeo, and a Montague?
ROMEO
Neither, fair saint, if either thee dislike.
JULIET
How camest thou hither, tell me, and wherefore? The orchard walls are high and hard to climb, and the place death, considering who thou art.
ROMEO
With love's light wings did I o'erperch these walls, for stony limits cannot hold love out.
JULIET
If they do see thee, they will murder thee.
ROMEO
Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye than twenty of their swords. Look thou but sweet, and I am proof against their enmity.
JULIET
I would not for the world they saw thee here.
ROMEO
I have night's cloak to hide me from their sight; and but thou love me, let them find me here. My life were better ended by their hate than death prorogued, wanting of thy love.
JULIET
Dost thou love me? I know thou wilt say ay, and I will take thy word. O gentle Romeo, if thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully.
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How to play this scene
The beats
- Romeo watches hidden and worshipful: "It is the east, and Juliet is the sun" is pure private awe.
- Juliet argues with fate alone, not sighing: "wherefore art thou Romeo?" is a problem she is trying to solve.
- The exposure lands when Romeo steps out on "I take thee at thy word" and her private thoughts are suddenly overheard: "What man art thou?"
- Fear grounds the romance: "the place death, considering who thou art" and "they will murder thee" put real stakes under the poetry.
Playing it
They want the same thing, each other, but from opposite risks: Romeo wants to close the distance now, and Juliet wants him and wants him alive. The danger of the feud is the third character in the scene. Keep Juliet's practical fear active so the love is a choice made against real consequence rather than two teenagers cooing in the dark, and let Romeo's recklessness cost something because of it.
Common mistakes
- Playing "wherefore art thou Romeo?" as "where are you," when it means "why are you Romeo," the one name she cannot love.
- Drowning the scene in soft romance and dropping the danger that gives it tension.
- Playing Juliet as coy; she is direct and brave, and "Dost thou love me?" is a bare, courageous question.
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