THIS IS IT.
THIS IS THE FINAL SCENE.
...ok, it's the first part of the final scene, because it's a really long final scene.
Spare a thought for poor old Paris here. He was just there to leave flowers at the grave of his crush, and now he's dead.
Romeo and Juliet: Act 5, Scene 2
OK! Juliet has escaped the clutches of her family by pretending to be dead and Romeo is on his way back to Verona! What could possible prevent this from turning out happily?
Friar John, that's what.
You had ONE JOB, Friar John, and you screwed it up. ONE JOB.
Romeo and Juliet: Act 5, Scene 1
HOLD ON TO YOUR HATS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! We've finally made it to Act 5! Let's check in with Romeo over in Mantua.
Who doesn't love the apothecary? Everyone loves the apothecary.
Romeo and Juliet: Act 4, Scene 4 (part 2)
When we last left our heroine Juliet, she was dead.
...OR WAS SHE???????????
Has anyone seen the "poorly timed comic interlude with musicians" bit in performance? I've only seen it once, and based on that particular experience, I have no real complaints about it being habitually cut.
Romeo and Juliet: Act 4, Scene 4 (part 1)
When we last saw Juliet, she had just taken a somewhat dubious temporary coma potion given to her by Friar Laurence. Let's see how that worked out...
I love the musicians in this scene, by the way. They're just out of frame right now, but we'll see them next time...
Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival
A reminder that I will be exhibiting at the Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival (nee Kids Read Comics) this weekend! Stop by the downtown Ann Arbor District Library between 12:00pm and 5:30pm on Saturday and Sunday and say hello! I will be selling the usual t-shirts, posters, and comic books. It's going to be a lot of fun!
Romeo and Juliet: Act 4, Scene 3
Zero hour is rapidly approaching. Let's see how Juliet deals with this...
Confession: I kind of love Juliet's speech where she freaks out about all the things that could go wrong upon taking the Friar's potion. She goes from "death" to "waking up and being all alone in a tomb" to "being driven mad and playing with the corpses of her family" to "bashing her brains out with a bone".
And then she goes and takes the potion anyways. That's badass.
Romeo and Juliet: Act 4, Scene 2
Let's see how Operation Take A Non-FDA Tested Temporary Coma Potion In Order To Get Prematurely Entombed is going...
I've been trying really hard to come up with other punchlines besides "what could possibly go wrong", but that's such a perfect punchline for this play that it's REALLY HARD not to use it as many times as possible.
Romeo and Juliet: Act 4, Scene 1
OK, the pace is picking up now! Romeo has been banished, Capulet is forcing Juliet to marry Paris in two days' time, and Juliet is headed to the last adult she trusts to give her reasonable advice! Let's see how this goes!
Did I say "reasonable advice"? I mean "highly sketchy advice".