Section 3: The Harlots’ dance
•
Act II, scene 1: Mercutio dances with one of the Harlots
The Harlot moves to down-stage-right (paying no attention to the other women), where
she meets and kisses Romeo.
She then backs away to centre-stage, teasing Romeo, who follows her.
They perform a whirling duet, maintaining close contact, circling around the stage.
They are soon joined by two other duets, also made up of a Harlot and one of Romeo’s
friends, Mercutio and Benvolio.
The Harlots back away to centre-stage, swishing their skirts at the men. The men follow
and playfully grab for their skirts.
The couples perform a series of duets.
Two of the Capulet men pull one of the Harlots away. They push her to the floor at the
Tybalt’s feet. The Harlot is angry and spits at Tybalt.
This action is clearly marked in the music.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Section 4: The fight
•
The Montague men get out their swords. The fight starts as a duet, performed
down-stage. Shortly, another duet breaks out up-stage; soon there are six duets
travelling across the stage in a diagonal line formation.
The lighting darkens to show the intensity and mood of the section.
As the fighting spreads to include the whole stage, the lighting follows suit.
Lady Montague and Lady Capulet appear. They sweep across the stage, crossing paths,
cutting through the fighting, but not attempting to stop it.
Lord Montague and Lord Capulet appear. They join in the fight centre-stage, their
much larger swords clashing in slow motion. The other fight duets then circle around
them giving the scene a sense of chaos, but firmly centering the attention on the two
central figures.
The clashing of swords adds to the accompaniment.
•
•
•
•
•
Act I, scene 1: the closing tableau of the fight
Section 5:An uneasy truce
•
•
•
•
•
•
The Prince’s escorts arrive, followed by Prince Escalus himself.
His entry is heralded by a fanfare of trombones and tubas.
The stairs are lit in a white light to suggest his importance relative to the scene.
There is a short pause in the music where both families stop to reflect upon the mêlée.
The Montague family is grouped stage-right, and the Capulet family is stage-left.
As the Prince discovers the extent of the carnage, the music is mournful and played
quietly.
The bodies are piled up and the lighting on the floor becomes colder.
The Prince forces the families to lay down their swords, which they do in pairs. It is
clear that both families are reluctant to do so.
As they do so the lighting changes again: the down-stage area is blue, the upstage area,
a warm orange.
The dancers then group in two lines on the stairs.
There are four ‘chimes’ in the music.
These are followed by a sudden blackout.
•
•
•
•
•
•
48
49