This new scholarly edition 'Romeo and Juliet' is edited with theatre productions in mind, and how theatre has an impact on how we read and play Shakespeare's works. The editors bring a wealth of experience in theatre, textual editing and literary criticism to the play, and renew it as a comic tragedy that establishes many of the modern world's obsessions. The edition restores much of the early text that is traditionally cut out and offers insight into how to play difficult passages. This great romance becomes an early commentary on identity, sexuality, the family and the law, creating some of the first fully-rounded female characters in the English theatre, and providing a dry-run for 'Hamlet'.