Act 2 Scene 3—Script v2

Friar Lawrence’s cell.

<enter FL with a watering can. He waters some flowers as he speaks>
<start center stage>
FRIAR LAWRENCE
The grey-ey’d morn smiles on the frowning night,
Check’ring the Eastern clouds with streaks of light,
And fleckled darkness like a drunkard reels
From forth day’s path and Titan’s fiery wheels.
Now ere the sun advance his burning eye,
The day to cheer and night’s dank dew to dry,
<puts flowers in a basket>
I must up-fill this osier cage of ours
With baleful weeds and precious-juiced flowers.


Enter Romeo.

<walk in from the stage right>
ROMEO
<knocks on door>
Good morrow, father.

<FL turns to greet him>
FRIAR LAWRENCE
What early tongue so sweet saluteth me?
<begins to lecture>
<goes back to gardening>
Young son, it argues a distempered head
So soon to bid good morrow to thy bed.
Therefore thy earliness doth me assure
Thou art up-rous’d with some distemp’rature;
Or if not so, then here I hit it right—
<turns to face Romeo, eyes widen with disapproval>
Our Romeo hath not been in bed tonight.

 <walk to the center of stage, looks happily>
ROMEO
That last is true—the sweeter rest was mine.

<FL stands in shock>
FRIAR LAWRENCE
God pardon sin! Wast thou with Rosaline?

<run to FR, and explain>
ROMEO
With Rosaline? My ghostly father, no;
I have forgot that name, and that name’s woe.

<partially relieved>
FRIAR LAWRENCE
That’s my good son, but where hast thou been then?

<picks up a leaf>
ROMEO
I’ll tell thee ere thou ask it me again.
I have been feasting with mine enemy,
Where on a sudden one hath wounded me
That’s by me wounded; both our remedies
Within thy help and holy physic lies.
I bear no hatred, blessed man, for lo
My intercession likewise steads my foe.

<a little annoyed but still concerned>
FRIAR LAWRENCE
Be plain, good son, and homely in thy drift,
Riddling confession finds but riddling shrift.

ROMEO
<hopelessly>
Then plainly know my heart’s dear love is set
On the fair daughter of rich Capulet.
As mine on hers, so hers is set on mine,
And all combin’d, save what thou must combine
<suddenly excited, stands and runs to FL>
By holy marriage. When and where and how
We met, we woo’d, and made exchange of vow,
I’ll tell thee as we pass, but this I pray,
That thou consent to marry us today

<clearly shocked>
FRIAR LAWRENCE
Holy Saint Francis, what a change is here!
Is Rosaline, that thou didst love so dear,
So soon forsaken? <tone turns patronizing> Young men’s love then lies
Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.
How much salt water thrown away in waste,
To season love, that of it doth not taste!
The sun not yet thy sighs from heaven clears,
Thy old groans yet ringing in mine ancient ears;
If e’er thou wast thyself and these woes thine,
Thou and these woes were all for Rosaline.
Art thou chang’d? Pronounce this sentence then:
Women may fall, when there’s no strength in men.

<indignant>
ROMEO
Thou chidst me oft for loving Rosaline.

FRIAR LAWRENCE
<correcting>
For doting, not for loving, pupil mine.


ROMEO
<pleading>
I pray thee chide me not. <sits down heavily before saying with love> Her I love now
Doth grace for grace and love for love allow<look up to the sky, imagine Juliet’s face>;
<pauses before adding> The other did not so.



FRIAR LAWRENCE
                    O, she knew well <rolls eyes>
Thy love did read by rote that could not spell.
<thinks for a minute before continuing>
But come, young waverer, come go with me,
In one respect I’ll thy assistant be;
For this alliance may so happy pr-oh-ve
To turn your households’ rancor to pure love.

ROMEO
<stands>
O, let us hence, I stand on sudden haste.

<wisely>
FRIAR LAWRENCE
Wisely and slow, they stumble that run fast.

Exit Romeo

<sighs and turns back to flowers>
FRIAR LAWRENCE
Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied,
And vice sometime by action dignified.
<takes a flower and examines it>
Within the infant rind of this weak flower
Poison hath residence and medicine power;
For this, being smelt, with that part cheers each part,
Being tasted, stays all senses with the heart.
Two such opposed kings encamp them still
In man as well as herbs, grace and rude will;
<puts it back>
<takes another flower, speaks sadly>
And where the worser is predominant,
Full soon the canker death eats up that plant.

How I plan to portray Friar Lawrence and hopefully I won't fail

Friar Lawrence, introduced in Act 3, Scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet is certainly one of the more complex characters, being fleshed out with his attempted neutrality on the feud, self-conflicting ideology, and moral struggles that stem from the decision Romeo forces him to make regarding his love for Juliet.

Friar Lawrence is primarily motivated by his religious duties to God at first, but this quickly takes a sharp turn when Romeo presents him with the dilemma of marrying him and Juliet. He soon becomes motivated solely by his duty to the city of Verona, choosing to join them in love in hopes that it’ll stop the feud. Not only is Friar Lawrence faced with internal conflict between prioritizing his duty to God and his duty to the city, he is also filled with (albeit less important) conflict between being a man of the cloth or a man of science, demonstrated in his dual proficiency of religion and biology.

While these conflicts don’t necessarily affect Scene 2, Friar Lawrence clearly strides to the future with a mindset that could be described as simply wanting a brighter tomorrow. Every action that he takes can be evaluated as his attempts to try and save Verona and stop the feud. This overarching goal is clearly shown in his almost heel-turn reaction from chiding Romeo for his misidentified lust to agreeing to marry the pair.

Portraying Friar Lawrence definitely would be difficult in later scenes, and already presents a challenge for the second half of Scene 2. Friar Lawrence, in my opinion, is a character that carries a large amount of wisdom with him, influenced and gained from his various fields of expertise.

Emotionally, Friar Lawrence may be a bit simplistic in the first half of Scene 2, as aside from his opening monologue on the paths that plants may take, he speaks mostly at first with what could be perceived as a mainly patronizing tone but later shifts to a more thoughtful tone as he begins to plan out how he could potentially save the city of Verona from further destruction and violence.

Acting methods

Most acting methods are related and stem from or are variants of Stanislavski's system, as well as their theorists were his students. They all have the basic idea that actors should not be separate from their characters but rather try to embody or relate to them. Most theories have a component of asking questions and answering as the character, as well as using past experiences to mentally and emotionally relate. For the character of Friar Lawrence, I think that using the question-based methods would be more successful, since I don't have much experience being a Friar. On the flipside, Friar Lawrence isn't much of a religious man, and more of a man who tries to mediate and divine relationships, something I actually have a lot of experience in (except with less threat of imminient violence and death). Because of this, I think that using Checkov, Miesner, and Strasberg's methods would be most successful in helping me play the part of the peace-seeking, and using Uta Hagen's 9 questions will help me get acclimated to the setting.

some blocking for a rearrangement of a scene in romeo/juliet

Friar Lawrence’s cell.

<enter FL with a watering can. He waters some flowers as he speaks>

FRIAR LAWRENCE
The grey-ey’d morn smiles on the frowning night,
Check’ring the Eastern clouds with streaks of light,
And fleckled darkness like a drunkard reels
From forth day’s path and Titan’s fiery wheels.
Now ere the sun advance his burning eye,
The day to cheer and night’s dank dew to dry,
I must up-fill this osier cage of ours
With baleful weeds and precious-juiced flowers.

Enter Romeo.

ROMEO
Good morrow, father.

<FL turns to greet him>

FRIAR LAWRENCE
What early tongue so sweet saluteth me?
<begins to lecture>

Young son, it argues a distempered head
So soon to bid good morrow to thy bed.
Therefore thy earliness doth me assure
Thou art up-rous’d with some distemp’rature;
Or if not so, then here I hit it right—

<eyes widen with disapproval>
Our Romeo hath not been in bed tonight.

ROMEO
That last is true—the sweeter rest was mine.

<FL looks in shock>

FRIAR LAWRENCE
God pardon sin! Wast thou with Rosaline?

ROMEO
With Rosaline? My ghostly father, no;
I have forgot that name, and that name’s woe.

<partially relieved>
FRIAR LAWRENCE
That’s my good son, but where hast thou been then?

ROMEO
I’ll tell thee ere thou ask it me again.
I have been feasting with mine enemy,
Where on a sudden one hath wounded me
That’s by me wounded; both our remedies
Within thy help and holy physic lies.
I bear no hatred, blessed man, for lo
My intercession likewise steads my foe.

<a little annoyed but still concerned>

FRIAR LAWRENCE
Be plain, good son, and homely in thy drift,
Riddling confession finds but riddling shrift.

ROMEO
Then plainly know my heart’s dear love is set
On the fair daughter of rich Capulet.
As mine on hers, so hers is set on mine,
And all combin’d, save what thou must combine
By holy marriage. When and where and how
We met, we woo’d, and made exchange of vow,
I’ll tell thee as we pass, but this I pray,
That thou consent to marry us today

<clearly shocked>

FRIAR LAWRENCE
Holy Saint Francis, what a change is here!
Is Rosaline, that thou didst love so dear,
So soon forsaken? <tone turns patronizing> Young men’s love then lies
Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.
How much salt water thrown away in waste,
To season love, that of it doth not taste!
The sun not yet thy sighs from heaven clears,
Thy old groans yet ringing in mine ancient ears;
If e’er thou wast thyself and these woes thine,
Thou and these woes were all for Rosaline.
Art thou chang’d? Pronounce this sentence then:
Women may fall, when there’s no strength in men.

ROMEO
Thou chidst me oft for loving Rosaline.

FRIAR LAWRENCE
For doting, not for loving, pupil mine.

ROMEO
I pray thee chide me not. Her I love now
Doth grace for grace and love for love allow;
The other did not so.

FRIAR LAWRENCE
O, she knew well <rolls eyes>
Thy love did read by rote that could not spell.

<thinks for a minute before continuing>
But come, young waverer, come go with me,
In one respect I’ll thy assistant be;
For this alliance may so happy prove
To turn your households’ rancor to pure love.

ROMEO
O, let us hence, I stand on sudden haste.

<wisely>

FRIAR LAWRENCE
Wisely and slow, they stumble that run fast.

Exit Romeo

<sighs and turns back to flowers>

FRIAR LAWRENCE

Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied,
And vice sometime by action dignified.

<takes a flower and examines it>
Within the infant rind of this weak flower
Poison hath residence and medicine power;
For this, being smelt, with that part cheers each part,
Being tasted, stays all senses with the heart.
Two such opposed kings encamp them still
In man as well as herbs, grace and rude will;
<takes another flower, speaks sadly>

And where the worser is predominant,
Full soon the canker death eats up that plant.

Method Acting and Lee Strasberg

Lee Strasberg

• considered to be the father of american method acting
• said to "revolutionize the art of acting [via] profound influence on performance in American theater and movies" from as early as 1920 up to his death in 1982
• his actors were said to "act from the inside out, communicate emotions they really feel, give you a sense of life."
• he was inspired by seeing the Moscow Art Theater actors and admired/observed their commitment and intensity they had to their parts regardless of importance. This led to him to the revelation that he wouldn't succeed as an actor but rather a "theoretician and teacher of this new 'system'...in American theater."
• he believed that actors should primarily focus on the 'correct' way to act rather the production as a whole

Method Acting

• by definition: "MA is a range of training/rehearsal techniques that seek to encourage sincere/emotionally expressive performances."
• LS focused mostly on psychological aspects of MA
• he encouraged use of personal experiences to try and relate to characters without forcing/faking sensations. This is known as "Emotion Memory"
• Konstantin Stanislavski, a Russian director that developed the original 'system' that MA is based off of, actually derided and didn't approve/agree of/with LS's approach to acting.

Romeo + Juliet, the weirdest film adaption of a stage play and how it successfully translates some dialogue into a really sad scene

It's widely thought that Baz Lurhmann's adaptation of the well known stage play, tragedy, and arguable romantic comedy is...unique. Using almost the exact same language as the original script used but set in a modern day scenario, Romeo + Juliet aims to retell the story of the star-crossed lovers with guns for swords and a costume party to replace Lord Capulet's fateful feast.

The final two scenes are definitely interesting. Lurhmann definitely ups the emotional factor during the double suicide, making for a more powerful scene.

Rather than having them die in delayed succession (as well as the dead body of Paris nearby), Juliet revives from her coma right as Romeo swallows the poison, leading to a tragic moment of confusion and miscommunication as Juliet is forced to watch the love of her life literally drop dead before her eyes, while he's forced to fade away into death as she practically rises from the dead, completely unharmed.

It almost gives the audience a sense of false hope, the brief thought that, "Maybe they'll both live and everything will be fine!"

Which is immediately shut down with Romeo falling dead onto a bed and Juliet finding a gun in the sheets and promptly joining him in eternal rest.

Compare this to the play, which ends with a not-as effective scene. The stilted succession of their deaths makes for a comparatively less emotional ending, thanks to the readers being unable to see the effect of death as well as the fact that we can't see expression through body language, facial expressions, tone of voice, and so on. In addition to this, we can also see one last moment of interaction between the leading actors in this saddening scene.

The final scene of Romeo + Juliet concludes with a relatively short scene in comparison to other adaptations of the play. Interestingly, it takes the time to show the audience all of the secondary and supporting characters in the ending as the Prince delivers his speech of disapproval. This detail was most likely added to show how the deaths of the lovers affected the entire city. As well as that change, the movie also doesn't have statues built in their honor but rather ends on the somber note of  the Prince condemning the heads of house Capulet and Montague for letting their petty feud affect the people of the city as well as their own beloved children.

(Author's note: I was forced to type this on an on-screen keyboard due to spilling water on my own. Please excuse any typos and formatting errors I may have missed.)

I accidentally forgot to write about image and pattern last night so here it is a day late.

In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare uses various themes, imagery, and visual motifs with consistency throughout the whole play. As his story progresses, it is only natural these details must change and evolve as well.

Perhaps the most prominent and notable theme would be the idea of romance occuring slowly during night, as our two protagonists meet under secrecy and and stars, while time itself slows down for the lovers to enjoy each other's presence. The first balcony scene is a great example of this, yet the second one, occuring almost three acts later is quite a different beast. Carrying only a few of the same qualities yet changing up certain details drastically.

While Romeo and Juliet still have chosen the secrecy of night, the circumstances are wildly different, with Romeo's sentence hanging over his head and Juliet's almost ferverish reluctance to allow his departure. Romance still hangs in the air, but marked with notes of fear and apprhension in response to the upcoming separation as they hastily consummated their marriage.

“JULIET
Yond light is not day-light, I know it, I;
It is some meteor that the sun exhal’d
To be to thee this night a torch-bearer
And light thee on thy way to Mantua.
Therefore stay yet, thou need’st not to be gone.

ROMEO
Let me be ta’en, let me be put to death,
I am content, so thou wilt have it so." (Act 3, Scene 5 lines 12-19)

This scene stands out in stark comparison to the first balcony scene, which was accompanied by sweet words that culminated in a long, drawn out goodbye that lasted page after page.

On a sidenote...

In terms of imagery, it would be interesting to note how Romeo refers to a radiant sun that would kill the vengeful moon in his monologue, as the moon itself hangs over him as he gazes lingingly towards in her window.

In comparison, the second balcony scene has Juliet denying the radiant dawn and instead claming it to still be the romantic night. Interestingly, it's argued that the sun and moon Romeo talks about is actually a representation of his love for Juliet killing his love for Rosaline. While a stretch, I believe this reversal is extremely interesting, where Romeo must choose between staying beneath the false moon or the sun that represents the path that leads him away from love.

In addition to this, his leaving is different than the first scene as well. Romeo leaves with excess haste, tather than taking numerous pages to wish her goodbye. While this is probably due to the circumstances—and perhaps belief in the Friar's plan—I thought it would be interesting to note.

Bad informal notes about Act 4/5 of RnJ

Act 4

• Scene 1: FL talks to Paris, “Oh you’re gonna marry Juliet” and he’s like “Yeah Capulet is being smart and stuff right now about her cousin dying so we’re getting married to help her out.” and FL says internally “Well gosh gee I wish I didn’t know why they should not be married and stuff.” And then Juliet shows up and Paris is like “EY GIRL WASSUP?” and she’s like “Eh.” And then I think they have some banter that results in Paris half-realizing she doesn’t really like him and she’s also like “I’m not lying to your face” and he’s like ‘You have totally just slandered my face right now.” And FL is like “Ok Paris go away we’re gonna do some religious confession stuff or something.” So he leaves, and FL and Juliet talk about how she’d rather die instead of marry Paris (ALSO SHE HAS A KNIFE) and he’s like “Ok calm down I have a plan, here’s a potion that’ll make it LOOK like you’re dead but you won’t be dead! And then I’ll send some letters to Romeo and when your family puts you in a tomb we’ll come and wake you up and you two can live together in Mantua.” And she’s like ‘Gimme I’m not afraid.”
• Scene 2: Capulet talks to a servant about “Wow there’s a lot of people here for the wedding.” And then Juliet shows up and throws herself at her parents’ feet and asks for forgiveness and lies about how she totally likes Paris now and her parents are happy because of that.
• Scene 3: Juliet monologues about how she doesn’t know when she’ll ever see her family again and hides her knife. Then she wonders if FL is lying and it’s poison instead of Tylenol PM but then she’s like “Oh I see Tybalt’s ghost! Romeo (x3), I’m drinking to you!” and she does.
• Scene 4: Mom/Dad Capulet get annoyed about the Nurse and servants and then they send the Nurse to go get Juliet since Paris has arrived and he’s ready to get married.
• Scene 5: The Nurse draws back the curtains after Juliet doesn’t answer and freaks out because SHE DEAD. And Mom Capulet shows up and they freak out and then Dad Capulet shows up and he’s apparently a medical professional because he’s allowed to declare her dead. FL and Paris arrive and FL is like “Is she ready? Oh no she’s dead how horrible.” And Paris says “I wanted to see what she looked like while sleeping but not like this.” And they have a lot of grief and FL says some religious stuff about how she’s totally be going to heaven. Then Peter and the musicians argue about how Peter wants music and they’re like ‘Dude...not now.” And they argue a little and Peter leaves and the musicians are like “Yeah let’s just wait for the mourners and get some food.”

---

Act 5

• Scene 1: FL didnt tell Romeo and Romeo’s….squire? Balthasar comes and says “Hey Juliet died also you look a little sick.” And he leaves and Romeo is like “Oh my god this is horrible.” And swears to lie with her tonight and by that he means he’s gonna kill himself so he goes to an apothecary and wheedles some poison out of them and then heads off to the tomb. Also the apothecary looks like a stereotypical drug dealer in the little movie thingy.
• Scene 2: FL meets with his Friar friend Friar John who says “Oh dude we couldn’t send your letter to Romeo cause we were quarantined because the plague.” And FL naturally is like “Oh my God why would you do this now they’re probably both gonna die.” And immediately heads over to the tomb.
• Scene 3: Paris leaves flowers, Romeo gets jealous and Paris wants revenge on the Montagues for killing his fiance’s cousin. So naturally they fight and Romeo doesn’t really want to fight at first but then Paris calls him a criminal so he gets pretty annoyed and they fight and he dies. Romeo drags his body inside the tomb and thinks about how Paris mentioned they were gonna get married and gets a little more upset but he also says the tomb isn’t really depressing because Juliet’s body is in it. So he takes the drugs and kisses her and dies. FL enters immediately after and he’s like “Hey, who’s in there?” And Balthasar is like “Romeo.” and Balthasar is also too scared to go check out the inside of the tomb with FL so he goes in alone and sees just bloody swords on the ground and then he walks in more and sees Juliet wake up and she’s like “Where’s Romeo?’ and he’s like “Uh I can take you to a nunnery?” And she says “No.” So he leaves and she kisses the poison off of Romeo’s dead lips and then takes his dagger and stabs herself. Then some watchmen find them and the Prince and the heads of the Capulet/Montague houses show up and mourn them and the Prince makes FL explain everything and he does and the Prince then makes Balthasar and Paris’ squire tell them why their masters’ bodies are in there too and he’s finally like “ok, Montague, Capulet, you see what fighting did? Them being dead is your punishment.” And they’re sad and both of them promise they’ll put up statues of their dead kids to remind them what happened and to end the feud.