draft

Ben: Abram, Tybalt

Eric: Sampson, Capulet, Romeo

Lucie: Gregory, Romeo, Mercutio

1.1

Sampson:

Gregory，on my words we’ll not carry coals.

Gregory:

No, for then we should be colliers.

Sampson:

A dog of the house of Montague shall move me to stand.I will take the wall of any man or maid of Montague’s.

Gregory:

They must take it in sense that feel it.

Sampson:

Me they should feel while I am able to stand and ‘tis known I am a pretty piece of flesh.

Gregory:

Draw thy tool. Here comes of the house of Montagues.

Enter Abram

Gregory:

I will frown as I pass by, and let them take it as they list.

Sampson:

Nay, as they dare, I will bite my thumb at them, which is disgrace to them if they bear it.

Abram:

Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?

Sampson:

No, sir, I do not bite my thumb at you.

Abram:

You lie.

Gregory:

Do you quarrel, sir?

Abram:

Quarrel? No.

Sampson:

Draw if you be men.

They Fight

1.5

Romeo:

What lady’s that which doth enrich the hand of yonder knight?

O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night as a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear

Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight, For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.

Tybalt:

This, by his voice, should be a Montague. Fetch me my rapier, boy. What, dares the slave Come hither covered with an antic face To fleer and scorn at our solemnity ?

Capulet:

Why, how now, kinsman? Wherefore storm you so?

Tybalt:

Uncle, this is a Montague, our foe, A villain that is hither come in spite To scorn at our solemnity this night.

Capulet:

Young Romeo is it?

Tybalt:

’Tis he, that villain Romeo.

Capulet:

Content thee, gentle coz. Let him alone. He bears him like a portly gentleman.

Show a fair presence and put off these frowns, An ill-beseeming semblance for a feast.

Tybalt:

It fits when such a villain is a guest. I’ll not endure him.

Capulet:

You’ll not endure him! God shall mend my soul, You’ll make a mutiny among my guests,

Tybalt:

Patience perforce with willful choler meeting

Makes my flesh tremble in their different greeting.

I will withdraw, but this intrusion shall,

Now seeming sweet, convert to bitt’rest gall.

Scene 3.1

TYBALT
Follow me close, for I will speak to them.

MERCUTIO
And but one word with one of us? couple it with
something; make it a word and a blow.

TYBALT
Mercutio, thou consort'st with Romeo,--

MERCUTIO
Consort! what, dost thou make us minstrels?

here's my fiddlestick; here's that shall
make you dance.

Enter ROMEO

TYBALT
Well, here comes my man.
Romeo, the hate I bear thee can afford
No better term than this,--thou art a villain.

ROMEO
Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee
Doth much excuse the appertaining rage
To such a greeting: villain am I none;
Therefore farewell; I see thou know'st me not.

TYBALT
Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries
That thou hast done me; therefore turn and draw.

ROMEO
I do protest, I never injured thee,
But love thee better than thou canst devise,
Till thou shalt know the reason of my love:

MERCUTIO
O calm, dishonourable, vile submission!

Draws
Tybalt, you rat-catcher, will you walk?

TYBALT
What wouldst thou have with me?

MERCUTIO
Good king of cats, nothing but one of your nine
lives; that I mean to make bold withal.

Will you pluck your sword out of his pitcher
by the ears?

TYBALT
I am for you.

Drawing

ROMEO
Gentle Mercutio, put thy rapier up.

MERCUTIO
Come, sir, your passado.

They fight

ROMEO
Gentlemen, for shame, forbear this outrage!
Hold, Tybalt! good Mercutio!

TYBALT under ROMEO's arm stabs MERCUTIO, and flies

MERCUTIO
I am hurt.
A plague o' both your houses! I am sped.

ROMEO

What, art thou hurt?

MERCUTIO
Ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch

ROMEO
Courage, man; the hurt cannot be much.

MERCUTIO
Ask for me to-morrow, and you shall find me a grave man.

A plague o'both your houses!

Why the devil came you between us?

I was hurt under your arm.

ROMEO
I thought all for the best.

MERCUTIO
A plague o' both your houses!

ROMEO

O, brave Mercutio's dead!
Here comes the furious Tybalt back again.

Re-enter TYBALT

Now, Tybalt, take the villain back again,

Either thou, or I, or both, must go with him.

TYBALT
Thou, wretched boy, that didst consort him here,
Shalt with him hence.

ROMEO
This shall determine that.

They fight; TYBALT falls

ROMEO
The citizens are up, and Tybalt slain.
The prince will doom thee death,
O, I am fortune's fool!

Exit ROMEO

The foreshadowing of feud

  My paper for the IB project, will be mainly focusing on the topic of how the feud between two families - Capulet and Montague foreshadows the final tragedy. Speaking of foreshadowing, it usually represents an inevitable ending, which in this play is the death of both Romeo and Juliet. Foreshadowing is an unique literary feature that can help me to accomplish a description on development along the plot. My main goal is to show the influence of conflict, and only certain events can support the idea. A few good examples would be the fighting scenes of Act 1 Scene 1 (The beginning)and Act 3 Scene 1(Where Mercutio and Tybelt died). This method improves my logical thinking because in order to manage and make good connections between those scenes, I have to perform better organization. Also, through the deeper exploration of foreshadowing, I will be able to have a clearer vision on the interpretation of why the scenes take place.

  The scenes that My group and I are going to perform is those two I mentioned in the former paragragh. I believe those scenes have the best demonstration of the feud between Capulet and Montague. There might be an extra part from Act 1 Scene 5(the feast held by Capulet, and Romeo sneaked in) depend on the timing of other scenes. I helps explaining the origin of the fight that takes place in Act 3 Scene 1, but it won't be as important. During the performance, I really want to show the extreme of the two sides' hatred. As we all know, Capulet and Montague's dissension was built during a long period of time, and will have horrible effect on their heirs - Romeo and Juliet. If the hatred can be interpreted during the fight, it might bring up the discussion of will Romeo and Juliet have a good ending under this scenario; and how will they undergo the pressure from it.

  In the final performance, there will be three actors participating. Eric will play as Mercutio in Act 3 Scene 1 and Capulet in Act 1 Scene 5(If necessary). Lucie will play as Romeo throughout the entire scenes. I will be Tybelt in those scenes. We are going to cut several lines in order for each person to  have the same lengths of speech. Also, the distribution of characters can add extra parts to fill the blank.

A great night in Hartford

  October 17, I went on a trip to watch a fantastic music show of Disney's in Hartford. It was one of the greatest performance I've ever seen. 

  The Newsies introduces a story took place in the 19's New York. With the launching of spotlight, the story began with a conversation between the main character - Jack Kelly and his friend. There were a few distinct details that attracted my eyeballs immediately. The staging was really interesting: Actors stood on a huge staircase, with a projecting background on their back. I finally realized that the musical was pretty different from the opera I saw before, I used to watch some of the Italian Operas with my father, because there's a theatre near my house. Those types of Opera are usually quite traditional, with only few of even zero background images.

  The identity of Jack Kelly became clearer to me later. When he and a bunch of other young men with the similar clothing style showed up in a stall-like place, there were thick stacks of newspaper on the ground. Yes, they were the newspaper delivers, I said to myself. Although it must be a tough job for them, because the newspaper seller didn't look really kind and he wasn't indeed; the newsies looked really optimistic. They joked and danced around instead of complaining about this  low-paying job. That actually gave me really positive impressions for them. 

  Next, a city councilor came into audience's sight. He next announces his decision on rising the Newspaper cost. At that moment, the conflict of the whole play appeared. With this conflict, the rest of the play was basically talking about how Jack Kelly, and his fellows started a protest and finally solved the problem. 

  Music, was absolutely the biggest part of the performance, that's why it was called the"musical". There was a professional band playing background music under the stage, it was somehow hilarious to me because I'd never imagined they would performed under the actors. The music moods always go with the atmosphere of what's going on at the stage. When there was a sad scene, the music sounded depressed; when a happy scene took place, the music became light and fast. Music had a substantial impact on the atmosphere, it highly strengthened those emotions that were expressed by the actors. In additional, the dancing parts were always accompanied by the music, the combination of them makes perfect stage effect. There were a few times that I even close my eyes to enjoy the music, without watching the play, it was just beautiful. Speaking of dancing, the moves were ridiculously difficult, I was so impressed by them. The theme of those dances never deviated the life of Newsies, their most distinctive personalities were showned in the dance: passionate and optimistic. The spirit of the play was placed deep inside music and dance.

  One of my favorite setting in the play was the love story between Jack Kelly and C(K)atherine. It was inspirational; the two young lovers worked together and finally went through all the toughness and fell in love. Nothing can be better than that! I loved seeing them together because they both had such great qualities; Jack Kelly had strong leadership and was always being positive, Catherine was helpful and warm-hearted. They were just two lovely couples.

  After all, I love the musical so much, and I would love to watch again.

 Picture souce:https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newsies_(musical)

Ideas about written project

Scene: The ending of Act 5 Scene 3
Ideas: Will there be a different result, if Juliet didn't drink the poison. What would happen to the young lovers, how will their families treat them. How should I make the scene looks really tragic, and what should the actors do and say, especially for Romeo and Juliet.

Scene: Act 2 Scene 3, When Friar Lawrence first appears.
Ideas: What is the first impression of Friar Lawrence in the play. How does his identity or personality affects what he does to Romeo and Juliet. How would the actor shows those personalities of Friar Lawrence.

Scene: Act 1 Scene 1, the beginning of the play
Ideas: What would I do to make the Prince has a strong dignity. The street must be messy after the fight, how will the people react to the fight.

Pardoned or Condemned, Live or Die(Topic #6)

  The general conflict of the play-"Romeo and Juliet" is the immature love under the hostility between two families- Capulet and Montague. Some people believe that the stubborn personalities  of Romeo and Juliet's are what caused the final tragedy. Prince Escalus, on the other hand believes that hatred is responsible for the deaths. He blames the two family for fighting each other several times in the play. For example, in Act 1 Scene 1. Escalus intervened the fight and announced, "If ever you disturb our streets again, Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace."(1.1 98-99) He was absolutely being mad about them. Finally, in one of his sentences from the long speech at the end of the play. The Prince criticizes this whole background setting of the "Romeo and Juliet". "Go hence to have more talk of these sad things. Some shall be pardoned, and some punished."(5.3 318-319) In my opinion, the first "some" stands for Friar Lawrence and the two young lovers. The second "some", on contrary stands for not only Master of Capulet and Montague, but everyone. Below are my reasons.
  One of the most controversial characters in the play--Friar Lawrence, is responsible for the final tragedy in a great degree. As a "Ghostly Confessor" of the young lovers, he held the secret wedding , gave them advices and most importantly, gave Juliet the sleeping potion. He started different series of events that could cause the deaths. Although there are other factors that could be responsible for it,  Friar Lawrence's role was just substantial. However, I believe he is the one that was been "pardoned". First of all, he is a prestigious priest. The impression of him should be saint and innocent. People at that time were mostly religious people, so he could receive forgiveness by that. The prince better indicated that by saying, "We still have known thee for a holy man."(5.3 279). Also, Friar Lawrence actually did everything along the willingness of Romeo and Juliet's, so he shouldn't be condemned.  For Romeo and Juliet, they were already dead when the prince was giving the speech, there can't be any punishment for dead people. At the end, they were the victims of the forbidden love. "See what a scourge is laid upon your hate"(5.3 302); in this sentence, the Prince clearly pointed his finger at the parents, and described the death as "scourge". With his sympathy to Romeo and Juliet, they should be"pardoned".
  Right before the sentence I mentioned above, the Prince said, "Where be these enemies?—Capulet, Montague".(5.3 301) Again, there are no worse existence than Capulet and Montague, in Prince Escalus' mind. He just loathe the two families and their fight for too much, there shouldn't be anyone else to be punished.
 However, Prince did mention something else at the end

 "That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love!
  And I, for winking at your discords, too
  Have lost a brace of kinsmen. All are punished."(5.3 303-305)

 This, is the ultimate version of his opinion.
 Nobody could escape from the pain that was created by the tragedy, thus everyone were punished.
 In conclusion, the play really has drastic changes. Being a summary, the Prince's speech provides a chance for self-recognition to everyone. As he said, "Some shall be pardoned, and some punished."
 

Romeo and Juliet quiz study questions

Fact Questions:
In Act 1 Scene 2, what does Benvolio mean by saying that"Tut man, one fire burns out another's burning"?, what is he implying for?

2.   In Act 2 Scene 5, why is Juliet talking bad about the nurse by saying that,"But old folks, many feign as they were dead, unwieldy, slow, heavy and pale as lead"?

3.   In Act 3 Scene 1, what emotions are Mercutio expressing when he says "Here's my fiddlestick, here's that shall make you dance. Zounds, consort!"

4.   In Act 4 Scene 5, why does the nurse say "Oh whelladay, that ever I was born?", how does it related to Juliet's death.

5.   In Act 5 Scene 3. In fact, Romeo barely knows Paris, but why does he say," By heaven, I love thee more than myself."

 Thinking Questions:
Did Romeo die with happiness?
What made up the worries of Juliet's, before she drank the potion.
Was the love between Romeo and Juliet considered "true love?"
What is the role of the nurse in the whole play?
What was the importance of Tybalt's death?

Essay Questions:

Analyze the death of Mercutio and Tybalt. What led to the result like that?(Event, Relationships)
Explain the role of Friar Lawrence in the whole play. What does he mean to Romeo and Juliet?

Use specific examples and details to demonstrate the ideas.

Studying, Acting, Improving

  Staging a scene is not an easy work and it takes a lot of time and thoughts to accomplish it.
  My group and I had worked on two scenes. The first scene we staged was originated from Act 2 Scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet. Honestly, it didn't go well at the beginning. Shakespeare's plays are quite hard to demonstrate, the complications of language and the time difference were the difficulties that needed to be solved. We decided to keep the original sentences and made an big change on the setting; put Romeo and Juliet on different sides of a pillar, instead of meeting at the balcony. We really liked this idea because the distance between the lovers was shortened, since Juliet doesn't need to stay up at the balcony. Also, it became much easier to set the scene.(No ladders or additional tools required).
  We had plenty of funny moments while performing the scene. Cherry was the plot designer and she made another significant change to the original play: Eric and I had to play for Romeo and Juliet. Suddenly the performance became a little awkward. The lovers' role didn't fit us well, but we still tried our best to make the play seemed real.
  However, the problems just kept showing up. One of the biggest ones was caused by shyness, Eric and I didn't have loud enough voice at the beginning, so the audience couldn't hear us well. But we improved right away. The lack of performing experience really caused a bunch of mistakes. A good example would be that Eric and I were always facing each other while performing, and the audience couldn't see our faces. The performers should always face toward the audience in order to show the facial expression. Thanks to the teacher, we corrected the problem and were able to move on.
  The second scene started at this week, and I joined a new group to work on it. Since it's no longer
our first performance, there were a few improvements on the practice. As I mentioned above, I didn't have loud enough voice at the first performance, yet at the practice this week I was able to speak clearly. The second scene is mainly about the conflict between Tybalt(Joseph) and Mercutio(Leo), and Romeo(me)'s intervention. This scene is less difficult than the one on Act 2 Scene 2. All the actors are boys and we have the passion to perform the fighting scene. Passion is the most important factor to makes the scene better. The only problem we are facing right now is my poor control on laughing. I'm just not a good actor because I always laugh and ruin the whole scene, it confuses me so much. Maybe in the future practices , I will find a way to prevent laughing.
  It's quite challenging to shorten the whole scene into a five to ten minutes performance. Leo and I need to cut a lot of lines of ours because Tybalt(Joseph) has less lines. And it actually turned out well, the briefer plot shows the main storyline.
  In conclusion. After all the problems, our performance keeps getting better. I had learned not only from correcting mistakes but also from watching other's performance. Julie and Ryan's  performances are always my favorite, they act naturally and speak fluently. Those are my short term goals