English 4313/5583 Mercer

Suggested Acting Scenes for Two

(Note: Each actor should memorize at least 30 lines.)

Romeo and Juliet

2.2.1-188 or 1-141 or 1-157 or 1-97 or 98-188: Romeo and Juliet in balcony scene

2.5.1-78: Juliet impatiently asks Nurse for news about Romeo

3.5.68-125: Lady Capulet tells Juliet she must marry Paris

(Brief scene. See me concerning number of lines.)

Julius Caesar

4.3.1-123: Brutus and Cassius bicker after they gain power.

Hamlet

3.1.55-161 or 87-161: Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy followed by his "get thee to a nunnery" scene with Ophelia.

5.1.1-64 and 71-74: Clowns joke while digging Ophelia's grave.

(Brief scene. A few additional lines required.)

Othello

4.3.11-105: Desdemona and Emilia discuss "Willow" song and issue of wives' infidelity.

5.2.1-89a: Othello and Desdemona's last conversation before he murders her.

King Lear

4.6.1-80: Edgar (in disguise) deceives his father, the Duke of Gloucester, into thinking that Gloucester has jumped off a cliff and survived.

Macbeth

2.2.1-75 (entire scene): Macbeth and Lady Macbeth argue about what to do with the bloody daggers from Duncan's murder.

(Brief scene. One actor may need additional lines.)

3.2.4-56: Macbeth keeps Lady Macbeth in the dark about his plans to murder Banquo.

(Brief scene. Additional lines required.)

Antony and Cleopatra

1.3.14-105: Antony tells Cleopatra that he must leave because his wife has died.

Scenes identified in John Russell Brown, ed., Shakescenes: Shakespeare for Two (New York: Applause Theatre, 1992).