Shakespeare’s tragic story of love, family feud, and double suicide is a masterwork woven with conflict, crisis, and counterstroke. In this program, prime scenes are dramatized and Stratford-upon-Avon Shakespearean experts Russell Jackson and Robert Smallwood dissect them and their major topics and themes. Discussed are the play’s popular appeal; the importance of the balcony scene as core to the work; how the lovers’ youth plays with modern audiences; and whether the twin suicides of Romeo and Juliet secure the play’s mythical status. Character analysis considers Juliet’s nurse’s role both as comedic and as contributing to conflicting notions about love that strengthen the play. Mercutio’s role and the effect of his murder by Tybalt on the overall plot are examined. The Friar is discussed as both the moral center of the play and as a fumbling, misguided agitator of certain action. (29 minutes)