Plays / Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet: who’s in each scene

William Shakespeare · 1597

Plan this showLoads this breakdown into the free planner. Add your cast and their conflicts; get a schedule and call notices.

Scenes

Speaking roles

Groups / ensemble

Scene × character grid

● speaks · ○ on stage, no lines. Weight compares each scene’s length to the play’s typical scene.

Scene	Weight	Chorus	Prince Escalus	Montague	Lady Montague	Romeo	Benvolio	Abram	Balthasar	Capulet	Lady Capulet	Tybalt	Sampson	Gregory	Citizens	Attendants	Paris	Servants	Juliet	Nurse	Mercutio	Maskers and Guests	Capulet's Cousin	Musicians	Friar Lawrence	Peter	Apothecary	Friar John	Page to Paris	Watchmen
Prologue	light	●
Act 1 Scene 1A public place	heavy		●	●	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Act 1 Scene 2A Street	normal					●	●			●							●	●
Act 1 Scene 3Room in Capulet’s House	normal										●							●	●	●
Act 1 Scene 4A Street	normal					●	●														●	○
Act 1 Scene 5A Hall in Capulet’s House	fuller					●	●			●		●						●	●	●	○	○	●	○
Act 2 Prologue	light	●
Act 2 Scene 1An open place adjoining Capulet’s Garden	light					●	●														●
Act 2 Scene 2Capulet’s Garden	heavy					●													●	●
Act 2 Scene 3Friar Lawrence’s Cell	normal					●																			●
Act 2 Scene 4A Street	fuller					●	●													●	●					●
Act 2 Scene 5Capulet’s Garden	light																		●	●						○
Act 2 Scene 6Friar Lawrence’s Cell	light					●													●						●
Act 3 Scene 1A public Place	heavy		●	●	○	●	●			○	●	●			●	○		○			●
Act 3 Scene 2A Room in Capulet’s House	fuller																		●	●
Act 3 Scene 3Friar Lawrence’s cell	fuller					●														●					●
Act 3 Scene 4A Room in Capulet’s House	light									●	●						●
Act 3 Scene 5An open Gallery to Juliet’s Chamber, overlooking the Garden	heavy					●				●	●								●	●
Act 4 Scene 1Friar Lawrence’s Cell	normal																●		●						●
Act 4 Scene 2Hall in Capulet’s House	light									●	●							●	●	●
Act 4 Scene 3Juliet’s Chamber	light										●								●	○
Act 4 Scene 4Hall in Capulet’s House	light									●	●							●		●
Act 4 Scene 5Juliet’s Chamber; Juliet on the bed	fuller									●	●						●			●				●	●	●
Act 5 Scene 1Mantua. A Street	normal					●			●																		●
Act 5 Scene 2Friar Lawrence’s Cell	light																								●			●
Act 5 Scene 3A churchyard; in it a Monument belonging to the Capulets	heavy		●	●		●			●	●	●					○	●		●						●				●	●

Cast size and doubling

23 speaking roles plus 6 groups.

The Chorus appears only in the two Prologues, alone, and can be doubled by any cast member.
Mercutio and Paris never share a scene.
Tybalt and Paris never share a scene.
Mercutio and Balthasar never share a scene.
Tybalt or Mercutio and the Apothecary or Friar John never share a scene.

Heaviest scenes

Work these early and often:

Act 5 Scene 3 — 11 speaking, about 317 lines
Act 3 Scene 5 — 5 speaking, about 254 lines
Act 1 Scene 1 — 12 speaking, about 229 lines

Characters

Chorus — Speaks the prologues
Prince Escalus — Prince of Verona
Montague — Head of the Montague family
Lady Montague — Montague's wife
Romeo — Montague's son
Benvolio — Montague's nephew, Romeo's friend
Abram — Servant to Montague
Balthasar — Servant to Romeo
Capulet — Head of the Capulet family
Lady Capulet — Capulet's wife
Tybalt — Lady Capulet's nephew
Sampson — Servant to Capulet
Gregory — Servant to Capulet
Citizens — Citizens of Verona
Attendants — Attendants on the Prince
Paris — A young nobleman, kinsman to the Prince
Servants — Household servants of both families
Juliet — Capulet's daughter
Nurse — Juliet's nurse
Mercutio — Kinsman to the Prince, Romeo's friend
Maskers and Guests — Maskers, torch-bearers and party guests
Capulet's Cousin — An old man of the Capulet family
Musicians — Musicians hired for the wedding
Friar Lawrence — A Franciscan friar
Peter — Servant to the Nurse
Apothecary — A poor apothecary in Mantua
Friar John — A Franciscan friar
Page to Paris — Paris's servant
Watchmen — The night watch of Verona

Edition: Project Gutenberg eBook #1513: Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (PG Shakespeare Team text, released 1998). Breakdown derived from this text. Public domain in the United States. Breakdown only — no text of the play is reproduced here.