Act I 
Scene 1: As day breaks in Verona, Romeo, son of Montague, is found declaring his love to the fair Rosaline. With the sunrise the marketplace fills with townspeople, among whom are members of two rival families, the Capulets and the Montagues. Tempers flare and a quarrel develops. The Duke of Verona appears and warns the two factions that death will be the ultimate punishment if the feud does not stop. Romeo and his friends Benvolio and Mercutio make reluctant peace with Tybalt, a kinsman of the Capulets. 

Scene 2: Juliet receives her first ball dress from her mother, Lady Capulet, and learns that she is to meet the nobleman Paris, to whom she will be betrothed on the following day. Now she must bid farewell to her childhood. 
 
Scene 3: Guests arrive at the Capulets’ ball, among them Rosaline. Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio, masked, follow her to the ball. 
 
Scene 4: Juliet is introduced to the guests and to Paris. While dancing with Paris, she and Romeo behold one another. It is love at first sight. Tybalt, nephew of Lady Capulet, suspects Romeo’s identity and tries to incite a quarrel, but is prevented from doing so by Juliet’s father who abides by the laws of hospitality. 
 
Scene 5: On the balcony outside her bedroom Juliet dreams of Romeo. He appears below in the garden. They declare their eternal love. 

Act II 
Scene 1: A carnival is in progress in the town square. Romeo, daydreaming, is indifferent to the gaiety around him. Juliet’s nurse brings him a letter from Juliet asking him to meet her in the chapel of Friar Laurence. 

Scene 2: In his cloister, Friar Laurence joins the young lovers in marriage. 

Scene 3: At the height of the carnival, Romeo returns from his wedding to the square. Tybalt accosts him, but Romeo declines to fight. Mercutio, angered, engages in a duel with Tybalt, and dies at his hands. Romeo, stunned and distraught, turns on Tybalt and kills him. 

Act III 
Scene 1: In Juliet’s bedroom the lovers are awakened by the sunrise, and Romeo, who has been banished by the Duke, must leave Verona. Lord and Lady Capulet enter with Paris, but Juliet rejects him. 

Scene 2: Juliet, appealing for help to Friar Laurence, receives a potion from him that will place her in a death-like sleep. He explains that Romeo will find her in the family tomb and from there they can escape together. 
 
Scene 3: Juliet’s parents return, and Juliet pretends to agree to the marriage with Paris. Left alone, Juliet takes the sleeping potion and is thought to be dead when her family and friends discover her, on what was to have been her wedding day. 
 
Scene 4: Romeo, who has not received Friar Laurence’s message revealing the plan, believes Juliet to be dead and rushes to her tomb. There he finds the mourning Paris and kills him. Embracing Juliet for the last time, he plunges his dagger into his heart. Juliet awakens to find Romeo dead. Grief-stricken, she kills herself. 

About John Cranko 

John Cranko was born on August 15, 1927, in Rustenburg, South Africa, and trained at the University of Cape Town, where he created his first ballet. In 1946, he moved to London to study at the Sadler’s Wells School and soon joined the Sadler’s Wells Ballet (later The Royal Ballet). He quickly gained recognition for his choreography, dedicating himself fully to it by 1949. His early successes included works for major companies and his first full-length ballet, The Prince of the Pagodas (1957). 

In 1961, Cranko became ballet director in Stuttgart, where he built a celebrated company and nurtured talents like Marcia Haydée. His breakthrough came with Romeo and Juliet (1962), followed by acclaimed narrative ballets such as Onegin and The Taming of the Shrew. He also encouraged young dancers in his company, including Jirí Kylián and John Neumeier, to try their hand at choreography. 

Cranko’s gift for nuanced story-telling, clear dramatic structure and his exquisite mastery of the art of the pas de deux led to worldwide acclaim. He and his young company toured the globe until his sudden death in 1973 at age 45. 

About Sergei Prokofiev 

A revolutionary composer who gave us some of the 20th century's most dazzling music. 

Sergei Prokofiev was born in 1891 in Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire, and was taught piano by his musically gifted mother. A prodigy, he composed his first piece at age five. In 1904, he entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory as its youngest student, developing a taste for modern music over traditional Russian styles. 

After graduating, Prokofiev traveled west in 1914, seeking inspiration and recognition. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, he briefly returned home, premiering his acclaimed Classical Symphony before departing again for the United States and later Paris. There, he collaborated with Sergei Diaghilev and composed notable ballets. 

Celebrated upon his return to the Soviet Union in 1927, he eventually settled permanently in Moscow in 1936, producing works like Peter and the Wolf. Despite wartime hardships and later political condemnation, he remained prolific, composing symphonies, sonatas, and War and Peace. Prokofiev died on March 5, 1953.