Starter (15 mins approx.)

Show students a version of this scene – the Baz Luhrmann film adaptation is very good, or any filmed theatre performance you have access to.

Afterwards, discuss their first impressions – what roles did the individual characters play, who instigated and encouraged the violence, and who do they feel was to blame for the events? Did they agree with the punishment meted out to Romeo at the end?

Main activity (25 mins approx.)

Group students into threes and give them the Act III Scene 1 edit. Students should assign themselves either Romeo, Mercutio or Tybalt. Show students the three movements they are going to use in performing this scene together.

The first is ‘advance’ – stepping towards the person they are speaking to. The next is ‘retreat’ – stepping away from the person they are speaking to. The third is ‘manoeuvre’ – stepping around or to the side of the person they are speaking to.

When they speak their lines, they need to decide on each line whether they are advancing towards the other character(s) in an attempt to connect with them or appease them, retreating away from them in an attempt to get away or showing disagreement, or manoeuvring around them in an attempt to persuade or bend them to their will.

See the downloadable lesson plan for the full activity, prompt questions and more.

Plenary (15 mins approx.)

Ask the students to think about what this scene shows us about violence in the world of Romeo and Juliet. It is common to hear male violence and toxic masculinity discussed in reference to the play, but in this scene, while we see plenty of men committing acts of senseless violence, we also see men trying to prevent this violence.

What makes Tybalt and Mercutio so keen to fight? What drives Romeo to try and prevent this violence? And what motivates Romeo to then go on and attack Tybalt?

Ask students to write down the motivations for each character’s behaviour and share them with a partner. What do they think this reveals in terms of what Shakespeare is using this moment in the text to convey to the audience?

Ask students to summarise their thoughts in writing, using evidence from the text.

Starter (10 mins approx)

Ask students to share what they already know about Juliet’s parents, and how parenthood might differ in the world of the play compared to parenthood now. Encourage them to use textual evidence to support their views.

Explain that in this scene, Juliet’s parents tell her that they have arranged a marriage for her with Paris, who is an excellent match – what do they predict as being the result of this? Do they think Juliet will act as a daughter ‘should’, according to the conventions of her world, or not?

Main activity (30 mins approx)

Watch the scene with students and get their first impressions before focusing in on the section provided in the Act III Scene 5 edit.

Ask students to work individually with the edit to start with, highlighting all the adjectives Capulet uses to describe Juliet in one colour. Can they group the adjectives into categories? What do these categories tell us about Capulet and his feelings in this scene? How do students respond to this behaviour?

See the downloadable lesson plan for the full activity, prompt questions and more.

Plenary (1 mins approx.)

Ask students to choose either Juliet or Lord Capulet. They need to imagine they are a Director, writing notes to the actor playing the part of the character they have chosen. What would they tell them about their character and how to play their role in this scene?

Students should think about how their character is feeling, what they’re thinking, what they want, and what tactics they are using to try and get what they want. They should use quotations to point to specific elements of the text.