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Plays › The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet › Romeo

Romeo

The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet · 163 speeches across 14 scenes

Passionate young Montague, defined by his impulsive love for Juliet. His emotional intensity drives the tragedy.

Who they are

Romeo is the tragic protagonist, shifting from Petrarchan lover to a man whose love transforms into fatal action. His arc moves from performative melancholy over Rosaline to genuine, consuming love for Juliet, which forces him into conflict with Tybalt and ultimately leads to his suicide. Key relationships include his loyal friend Mercutio, the wise Friar Laurence, and his beloved Juliet.

Playing them

Start with a languid, self-dramatizing energy in early scenes—upper-class, dreamy, with a vocal lightness. After Mercutio’s death, shift to raw, urgent anger; the final act demands a desperate tenderness mixed with reckless physicality. Avoid playing him as merely a lovestruck boy—let his change into action-driven man be vivid. Tradition often has him speak the balcony scene with rising ecstasy, not breathless whispers.

Appearance

Typically costumed as a Renaissance noble youth—doublet, hose, possibly a cape. Often dressed in red or gold to suggest passion and volatility. Physicality should be graceful, quick, with nervous hands.

Worth knowing

Based on Arthur Brooke’s 1562 poem 'The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet.' Shakespeare heightened Romeo’s intensity and reduced the time span of the romance to a few days.

Where they appear

Play Romeo

Take the part and Yorick reads every other role aloud, following you line by line as you speak.

Rehearse Romeo and Juliet on your phone: App Store · Google Play

Shakespeare the way it was meant to be had — out loud

These plays were written to be performed, not silently read. Yorick is a rehearsal app that lets you perform them: you take a part in any of Shakespeare’s 38 plays, and Yorick reads every other role aloud, listens while you speak your lines, keeps your place, and prompts you the moment you dry.

It is built for the person who has to be off book by tech week — school and college productions, community theatre, festivals, drama students and classical auditions — and for anyone who wants to hear a scene rather than skim it. Alongside the performance you get a plain-English translation of every speech, scene context, performance notes, and the ability to ask about any line and get an answer that already knows the play, the scene and who is speaking.

The text is the public-domain Cambridge/Globe edition. Translations and notes are AI-generated rehearsal aids for actors and students, not a scholarly apparatus. Yorick runs in a browser with nothing to install, and on iPhone and Android.