RALPH: Welcome back to the studio. It's Act one, Scene four, and Romeo and his buddies are on their way to the party at the Capulet's. Given the bloody feud between the Capulets and the Montagues, it seems like a dangerous place to go for some fun. But luckily, it's a masquerade. Masks are encouraged at a party like this. So Romeo and his crew can attend in disguise. It's also in this scene that we get introduced to Mercutio, Romeo's good friend. Good evening, gentlemen. 

ROMEO: Evening. 

MERCUTIO: Sup? 

RALPH: And welcome to the show, Mercutio. 

MERCUTIO: Thanks. 

RALPH: Uh, you two are good friends, right? 

MERCUTIO: Yeah, of course we are. 

RALPH: But you're not a Montague yourself, are you? 

MERCUTIO: No. No, I'm not. I'm not a part of the family. 

RALPH: But you're actually invited to this party that Romeo and his friends are going to be crashing? 

MERCUTIO: Yeah. And I'd just as soon not talk about this ridiculous feud. 

RALPH: Sure. No problem. So you're on your way to the party and you're giving Romeo a little bit of a hard time. Tell us about that. 

MERCUTIO: A dance party, Ralph, is a dance party. And look at this guy. 

ROMEO: What? I don't feel like dancing. You can dance. I have a soul of lead that pins me to the ground. 

MERCUTIO: See what I mean? Cupid's wing should have you bouncing off the walls. 

ROMEO: Not when Cupid's arrows has me pinned to the ground. 

MERCUTIO: Too heavy, my friend. Love should not be that heavy. Love is light and airy. It's tender. 

ROMEO: Is it? It's been pretty rough with me. It pricks like a thorn. 

MERCUTIO: If love be rough with you, be rough with love. Prick love for pricking. You beat love down. 

RALPH: Uh, Mercutio, I'm almost afraid to ask. What did you mean there, be rough with love, prick love for pricking? 

MERCUTIO: A little slow, are we, Ralph? 

RALPH: I just want to be clear and, you know, keep things PG. 

MERCUTIO: If love's got you down, you got to, you know, fight back. Get with the ladies. Put the ball back in your court. 

RALPH: Okay. I think we get it. So Romeo, does this seem like advice you can take? 

ROMEO: Easier said than done. It's hard to take any advice when you feel as I do. 

RALPH: And yet, it seems like it's not just love that's holding you back. Is there something else going on? 

ROMEO: Yeah. Well, this party we're going to tonight, I don't think it's such a good idea to go. 

RALPH: Because of the feud, you mean? 

ROMEO: No. I had a dream last night. 

MERCUTIO: No way. So did I. 

ROMEO: Oh, yeah? What was yours? 

MERCUTIO: That dreamers often lie. 

RALPH: Excuse me? 

ROMEO: No, no, no. He's right. Dreamers lie in bed asleep at night and dream about things that are true. 

MERCUTIO: Oh. I see Queen Mab hath been with you. 

RALPH: Queen Mab? 

ROMEO: Don't encourage him. 

MERCUTIO: You know, she's the fairies' midwife. And she rides over men's noses as they lie asleep, in a little chariot made from an empty hazelnut covered with the wings of grasshoppers and driven by a small, greatcoated gnat. 

RALPH: Uh-huh. So, and she has something to do with dreams? 

MERCUTIO: Indeed. She gallops through lover's brains. Then they dream of love. Or over lawyer's fingers, and they dream of cash. Or over lady's lips, and they dream of kisses. 

RALPH: So you're saying that we just dream of things that we wish for. 

MERCUTIO: Of course. But this is the same Mab that tangles the hair of women in the night or lies heavy on the chest of young girls so that they can learn to bear the weight. 

ROMEO: All right, Mercutio. Enough. What a bunch of nonsense. 

MERCUTIO: True. The talk of dreams, dreams are the children of an idle brain, their made up substance as thin as air. 

RALPH: What do you think, Romeo? It sounds like you were going to say that you dreamed about something that was really going to happen. 

ROMEO: I don't know. I just can't shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen, something fated. It's like I'm entering an agreement, a contract by going to the party tonight, the cost of which will be my own untimely death. 

RALPH: Wow. That's a little disturbing, isn't it? 

MERCUTIO: It was a dream, Ralph. A dream as thin as air. Don't sweat it. 

RALPH: What do you think? 

ROMEO: I'm in the hands of fate. Let's go to that party.