Friar Lawrence has sent word of the plan to Romeo, but his messenger, Friar John, is waylaid and the message never makes it to poor Romeo. Hearing this, Friar Lawrence hurries to the tomb so that he can intercept Romeo’s arrival and tell him what’s really going on.
In exile, Romeo wakes up after having a dream in which he dies and is kissed back to life by Juliet. His confidante, Bathalsar, arrives to tell him the sad news: Juliet is dead (Balthasar is not in on Juliet’s plan). Devastated, he decides to head back to Verona immediately. He plans to commit suicide at Juliet’s grave. He’ll procure a deadly poison from an apothecary and drink it in Juliet’s tomb. After buying the potion, Romeo leaves for Verona.
Capulet, Lady Capulet, and the Nurse are rushing through wedding preparations. Capulet stays up all night with his servingmen to finish everything. Seeing Paris approach, he sends the Nurse to wake up his daughter.
Deciding that it’s now or never, Juliet sends the nurse away and takes the potion, knowing how terrifying it will be to wake up in her family’s tomb. If the mixture doesn’t work, she has a plan B: her dagger. She’s also worried that the potion might actually be poison, but decides to trust Friar Lawrence. She drinks the potion and falls upon her bed.
Preparations for the upcoming Juliet-Paris wedding are well underway at the Capulet household. Juliet arrives and tells her father that she’s decided to marry Paris after all. Capulet is so thrilled he decides to move the wedding up—to the next day.
Paris is busy making plans with Friar Lawrence for his upcoming wedding with Juliet. Juliet enters, and, sensing she’s there for confession, Paris makes his exit. A despairing Juliet begs Friar Lawrence’s help in averting a marriage to Paris. If he can’t help her, she has resolved to commit suicide. Friar Lawrence has a solution: she should go along with her father’s plan, but when it’s time to marry Paris, Juliet will take a potion that mimics death. She’ll be placed in the Capulet tomb, where the Friar will bring Romeo to wait for her to wake up.
Having spent the night together, Romeo and Juliet must part ways in the morning. They hem and haw for a while, until the Nurse enters and tells Juliet that her mother is on the way. As Romeo leaves, the two wonder if they’ll see each other again. Lady Capulet enters and assumes Juliet’s visible grief is a result of Tybalt’s death. But she comes bearing good news: Capulet has arranged for Juliet to marry Paris, and soon. Juliet refuses, and continues to do so even when her father enters and threatens to throw her out if she doesn’t.
Paris is anxious to marry Juliet, not realizing, of course, that she’s already taken. He goes to Capulet, who promised that his daughter will do whatever he commands. He makes plans with Paris for the two to marry that week and tells his wife to go prepare Juliet for the wedding
A frantic Romeo pays Friar Lawrence a visit. The Friar tells Romeo the somewhat good news: he won’t face death, but because he killed Tybalt, Romeo can never return to Verona. Romeo doesn’t think that’s such good news: he’d rather be dead than separated from Juliet. The Nurse arrives, bringing news of a miserable Juliet. Romeo’s miserable, too, and threatens suicide. Friar Lawrence and the Nurse agree to let Romeo have one last night with Juliet, and then face exile in the morning.
Unaware of the deadly fight between Mercutio, Romeo, and Tybalt, Juliet waits for her husband to return to her room to spend the night. Her nurse arrives, bringing bad news. When Juliet hears of Tybalt’s death, she’s horrified. But she then realizes that, if faced with the choice between her cousin Tybalt and her husband Romeo, she would choose Romeo. She forgives her husband and grieves over his exile. The Nurse agrees to find Romeo and to send him to Juliet’s chamber for the night as planned.
