Verona. The stage fills with street performers who introduce a tragic tale of forbidden love caught between two feuding families.

At the Capulets’ summer masquerade, Tybalt and Paris eagerly await the entrance of Juliet Capulet, who arrives on her father’s arm. Lord Capulet hopes to see his daughter married to Paris. However, Juliet dreams of a different love, one that has her “smiling in a dreamland.” She meets Romeo Montague, who has secretly joined the festivities, and the two immediately fall in love, uninhibited by the knowledge of each other’s identity. The lovers are soon interrupted by Tybalt, and Romeo realizes he has met the daughter of Lord Capulet. He quickly dons a mask to hide his face, but it’s too late. Tybalt recognizes the voice of his longstanding enemy just as Romeo makes his hasty exit. Meanwhile, Juliet is distressed that her love has crossed family lines.

Under the cover of darkness, Romeo comes to Juliet’s balcony to declare his love. Juliet sighs, mourning his identity as a Montague. She startles, realizing that she has been overheard. As the two profess their feelings for each other, Juliet asks Romeo to send the day, hour, and place to elope. Juliet’s nurse Gertrude calls out to her, and the young lovers lament their farewells.

Early the next morning, Romeo pays a visit to Friar Laurent and begs him to wed the couple. Juliet joins them, followed by her nurse Gertrude. Relenting, Friar Laurent leads the group in prayer and performs the wedding ceremony. He hopes that the marriage will end the strife between the families.

In the square in front of the Capulets’ palace, Stephano sings about a turtledove trapped in a vulture’s nest. Gregorio picks a fight with Stephano, thinking that he is the man they had chased away from the party the previous evening. Mercutio intervenes to defend Stephano, and Tybalt challenges him to a duel. In the skirmish, Mercutio is killed by Tybalt, and Romeo, avenging his friend’s death, stabs Tybalt to death. Romeo is then banished from the city after both sides demand justice.

Later that evening, Romeo secretly visits Juliet. Juliet forgives him for the duel, arguing that had Tybalt not died, Juliet would have been mourning Romeo. The young lovers struggle to say goodbye; they declare their love for each other as night glows into dawn. After Romeo leaves, Juliet is distraught: she is to marry Paris the next day. She goes to Friar Laurent in despair, begging him to help her escape. Her fate—a life without Romeo—is so appalling that death seems enticing, rather than to live in a false marriage. Friar Laurent gives her a sleeping potion that imitates a temporary death for a day. After her family buries her in the family tomb, Friar Laurent will send a message to Romeo who will be there when she awakes, and then the two can run away together. Drinking the potion, Juliet tells herself that despite her fears, this plan will ultimately bring her happiness. Lord Capulet comes to escort her to her wedding, and she faints in his arms.

In the tomb, Romeo sees Juliet and believes her to be dead. He had received word about Juliet’s death but not the message from Friar Laurent. In his inconsolable grief, he consumes poison just as Juliet wakes. She realizes that Romeo is by her side, and the two lovers share a vision of a future “happy and free, in love.” In her final act of love, Juliet stabs herself with a dagger from Romeo’s belt, eager to join Romeo again.

Synopsis by Allison Chu, a Ph.D. candidate in Music History at Yale University. Her research focuses on the intersection of identity and opera in the twenty-first century.