Romeo and Juliet

The most famous love story in the world.

In Verona, two great households are locked in an ancient feud. At a masked ball, Romeo of the Montagues sees Juliet of the Capulets, and within hours the pair have met, fallen and secretly married — a private happiness set against a public hatred neither family will lay down.

The balcony, the friar's plan, Mercutio's death in the street, the sleeping potion, the tomb: the plot is so well known it has become a kind of shorthand, yet the play itself is faster, funnier and more brutal than its reputation suggests. Written when Shakespeare was still young, it remains the definitive account of first love and the adults who fail it.

Ideal for

• School and university syllabus reading
• A first Shakespeare for teenage readers
• Theatre-goers preparing for a production