Romeo & Juliet - Classic

If all the world were Capulets, no Romeo's just Juliet's would every heart cleave in tooth. For want of just one Montague, it is almost time. You're listening to Spooked, Stay Tuned. Did you know there's an online cannabis company that ships federally legal THC right to your door? And they found a way to combine THC with carefully selected functional ingredients to create gummies, baked goods, flour, I'm talking about Mood.com. They have an incredible line of cannabis gummies and you can get 20% off your first order at Mood.com with promo code SPOOT. Forget one size fits all supplements. All the functions of functional gummies are formulated to dial in the mood you're looking for like the Sleepy Time Advanced Gummies for Mind Ssoothing Calm at Night or Mood's Pure Relief CBD Gummies for gentle relaxation without any psychoactive effects. Plus beyond gummies, Mood has a selection of flour, pre-rolls, baked retreats, beverages and everything ships directly and discreetly right to your door. No dispensary lines, no awkward conversations, just better days and nights delivered to your doorstep. Best of all, every Mood product is backed by a 100-day satisfaction guarantee and as I've mentioned, let's just get 20% off their first order with code SPOOT. So head to Mood.com, find the functional gummy that matches exactly what you're looking for and let Mood help you discover your perfect mood. And don't forget to use promo code SPOOT when you check out to save 20% on your first order. Try it today at Mood.com. SPOOT is brought to you by progressive insurance, fiscally responsible, financial geniuses, monetary magicians. These are things people say about drivers who switched their car insurance to progressive and save hundreds. Because progressive offers discounts for paying in full, for owning a home and more, plus you can count on their great customer service to help you when you need it. So your dollar goes a long way. Visit progressive.com to see if you could save on car insurance, progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates potential savings will vary, not available in all states or situations. Okay, so we're all trying to get healthier, but can feel like shadowboxing. Some basic diet plans, general health advice, general supplement stacks. And we know we are not general. No one size fits all. But what if you could measure how your body is aging and know exactly what to focus on next? That's what true diagnostic does. They test your biological age and key health markers like vitamins, nutrients and inflammation then gives you a clear 90 day plan based on what your body needs without the guesswork. And it's easy. All I did was order online, the kit ships right to your door, picked my finger like they said, sent back the prepaid return package. It takes just two to four weeks to get digital results. My only job now? Follow the three most important actions and results say I should for 90 days then retest to see progress. Easy. That's why true diagnostic is trusted by top longevity clinics and health professionals, not just consumers at home. And right now, Spook listeners can get 20% off at truediagnostic.com using code SPOOKT at checkout. That's truediagnostic.com and use code SPOOKT for 20% off today. Choose True Age, True Health or the Combo Kit as a one time purchase or subscription. 19 years old, young, just starting a life built of my own decisions and I knew two things simultaneously. I knew I loved her desperately, deeply and I knew I was moving away to the other side of the world, Japan, the chance of lifetime. I had to take it. I had to. And mostly in the days leading up to getting on that plane, she and I, we didn't talk about it. Even as she helped me pack up my brand new suitcase, looked for Japanese English dictionaries, we avoided mentioning what we were packing for. The herd of elephants in the room, but I wanted her to know I wanted to give her something to make her understand that even though I had to do this, that she was special to me. I snuck off to a jeweler. He helped me pick out the most beautiful bracelet I could afford. And he framed it in a beautiful box. I knew she would love it. And she would appreciate that this is just a bump, that this year would go quickly, that if we have our entire lives ahead of us, so excited to give it to her, it could say everything that we had not. On that night, walking next to her along the footpath, I pulled out the jewelry box and handed it to her the look of joy, elation. Then she opened that box to see a bracelet. And I know instantly that she did not expect to see a bracelet. The disappointment, the almost sorrow, the almost anger, the chasm, then the acceptance, almost as she placed the bracelet on her wrist thanked me. And we continued walking down the path. Her life is completely different than it had been just a few moments before. I had added injury. I had twisted the knife. And some things, some things you can never take back. Now, have you ever gone to see Shakespeare in the park? I'm not talking about much to do about nothing in the middle of the day. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. This is spooked. I'm talking about Hamlet in the middle of the woods at midnight. You feel like you're in the play. That those ghosts, those dark forces summoning the actors lines are coming alive right there in front of your eyes. And today we're traveling to the American Players Theater, an outdoor amphitheater in rural Wisconsin. It stages some of America's best Shakespeare productions. The theater is in the middle of the woods. And at night, at night it gets pretty dark. We're about to meet Kelsey and Andy, two apprentices at the theater who have just been cast in the roles of their young lives. Romeo and Juliet. I'll let them take it from here. Suit. So we start rehearsing the play and the balcony scene has started to give us a little bit of his problems. The balcony scene is the time they really get to meet and get to know each other. Romeo and his friends crash this party of Capulet. And from across the room, Romeo spots Juliet and instantly they fall in love. Romeo sticks around the property of the Capulets, hoping to get another glimpse of Juliet or maybe work up the courage to say something to her. And as he's waiting, looking around, in this really, really dangerous area for him to be, he would be murdered if he was found. She appears on her balcony. It's night. These two people can't see each other's face. And there's no one else around except this constant threat that at any moment they could be found out. In the rehearsals, it's bright. We're rehearsing at noon, you know, sometimes under the sun where it's oiling because it's the middle of the summer. All those factors, we're playing into it. So we're getting notes from our director, Matt, about how the balcony scene is just not working. The stakes are not high enough, you know, feel the danger. The risks are higher. Death is around the corner. So we're getting down to the wire and we decide one night that we're going to go up the hill in the dark and rehearse on the stage that's in the middle of the woods. Do I want to walk up the hill in the pitch darkness and rehearse? Probably not. That's not something that is on brand for me. But I want to be the best Juliet I can possibly be. So I'm going to do anything. There's a walking ramp that's gravel stone that winds up and through the woods. There's no light because it's an off night from the theater. It's trees everywhere to the point where you can't really see too far. I mean, you're you're looking straight into the wilderness. We start getting deeper into the woods and deeper up the hill. And I'm like, I can't see anything. Oh my God. What did we decide to do here? I'm definitely starting to feel how alone we are up on this hill. And as you come through a lot of fir trees and that kind of thing, it opens up again and you start to see the walls of the theater at the very top. And it's this massive amphitheater that's cut into this natural bowl at the top of this large hill. So we walk into the lobby area, completely deserted. And we walk down basically the center aisle that leads from the lobby area onto the stage. We get up there and there's not much to do, but just jump in. So I go backstage up this staircase that leads to a window. So I'm probably now like maybe 15, 20 feet off the stage. And Andy is below. I can see just the outline of his face and nothing more. And that's exactly what Juliet experiences. It's just a strange sensation to be like, OK, now we're rehearsing and we can barely see each other. We're completely alone. It's a little creepy. And if we get caught by somebody up there, we're not really sure we're supposed to be up here. So it's perfect. Maybe this is what we've needed all along. Did you know there's an online cannabis company that ships federally legal THC right to your door? And they found a way to combine THC with carefully selected functional ingredients to create gummies, baked goods, flour. I'm talking about mood.com. They have an incredible line of cannabis gummies. And you get 20% off your first order at mood.com with promo code SPOOT. Forget one size fits all supplements. Moods functional gummies are formulated to dial in the mood you're looking for. Like the sleepy time advanced gummy for mind soothing calm at night. Or moods pure relief CBD gummies for gentle relaxation without any psychoactive effects. Plus beyond gummies, mood has a selection of flour, pre-rolls, baked retreats, beverages, and everything ships directly and discreetly right to your door. No dispensary lines, no awkward conversations, just better days and nights delivered to your doorstep. Best of all, every mood product is backed by a 100 day satisfaction guarantee. And as I've mentioned, listeners get 20% off their first order with code SPOOT. So head to mood.com, find the functional gummy that matches exactly what you're looking for and let mood help you discover your perfect mood. And don't forget to use promo code SPOOT when you check out to save 20% on your first order. Try it today at mood.com. SPOOT is brought to you by Regrets of Insurance, Fiscally Responsible, Financial Geniuses, Monitoring Magicians. These are things people say about drivers who switched their car insurance to progressive and save hundreds. Because progressive offers discounts are paying in full for owning a home and more. Plus, you can count on their great customer service to help you when you need it. So your dollar goes a long way. Visit progressive.com to see if you could save on car insurance, progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates potential savings will vary, not available in all states or situations. Okay, so we're all trying to get healthier, but can feel like shadowboxing. General basic diet plans, general health advice, general supplement stacks. And we know we are not general. No one size fits all. But what if you could measure how your body is aging and know exactly what to focus on next? That's what true diagnostic does. They test your biological age and key health markers like vitamins, nutrients and inflammation. Then gives you a clear 90 day plan based on what your body needs without the guesswork. And it's easy. All I did was order online. The kit ships right to your door, picked my finger like they said, sent back the prepaid return package. It takes just two to four weeks to get digital results. My only job now? All the three most important actions and results say I should for 90 days, then retest to see progress. Easy. That's why true diagnostic is trusted by top longevity clinics and health professionals, not just consumers at home. And right now, Spook listeners can get 20% off at truediagnostic.com using code SPOOK at checkout. That's truediagnostic.com and use code SPOOKT for 20% off today. Use true age, true health or the combo kit as a one time purchase or subscription. We start the scene. What soft? What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east and Juliet is the sun. Arise fair sun and kill the envious moon who is already sick with grief. So exhilarating. Her maid art far more fair than she. Oh, Romeo. Romeo. Where for art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name. Or thou wilt not be but sworn my love and I'll no longer be a Capulet. And we do it again because we're actors and we want to rehearse, right? And during the second rehearsal of the balcony scene, I start to feel like we're being watched. I'm noticing Kelsey's got this halting nature now to her voice that she doesn't usually have. Thou knows the mask of night is on my face. Else would a maiden, else would a maiden blush, be paint my cheek for that which thou has heard me speak tonight. Fain would I dwell on your heart. And that also she's just a little bit, things are coming out a little slower. I started feeling this weird thing and like where your your arm hairs start raising up like that prickly sensation on my skin on my arms. I was like, am I getting cold? There's kind of a center aisle that leads from the stage all the way up through the audience and into the lobby. I look up and at the very top of that path, I saw that someone was there. It's pitch black so it's just kind of an outline of something that looks like a human being. I'm required to turn around when I profess my love to Juliet. With love's light wings that I o'erperch these walls. Forstoni limits cannot hold love out and what love can do that there's a... I open up to this aisle to see what I think is someone out there. Initially the first thing I sense of course is, oh whoa someone is there. But then it just has like this sense of okay it's someone here to watch that we probably know. And they walk down into the fifth row and they sit down about two seats in. The seats are a beige leather and a gray leather. They are visible even you know even in the darkness. So when that person is sitting in that seat there is a blackness of an outline that covers the back of the seat. I immediately thought it was Matt, my director. He was the only person who knew that we were out there and he had every reason to come and watch us. We concluded the balcony scene. Good night. Good night. Parting is such sweet sorrow that I shall say good night till it be morrow. Sleep dwell upon thine eyes. Peace in thy breast. Instinctively I'm waiting for notes because that's the normal exchange. You end a scene and your director says, great okay here's what I think. And there was just silence. I'm like oh that's weird. Okay maybe Matt just wants to give us space and doesn't want to insert any notes, doesn't want to ruin this moment. So I come down off the balcony. I walk down, still silent and I join Andy on the stage and that's when Andy says... Kelsey what about, do you want to do the pilgrim scene maybe? I thought I was just having this weird experience alone but I also want to keep doing this this has been fun too and it's like also I'm intrigued by what is actually happening. Will this person reveal themselves? Andy's one of my best friends, he's my roommate. If Andy doesn't feel like we're in danger I'm probably fine. So I say sure let's do the pilgrim scene. The pilgrim scene it is the moment where Romeo comes up to Juliet at the Capulets party and he takes her hand. Where saints have hands that pilgrims hands do touch and palm to palm is Holy Palmer's kiss. That's the dance right where they first get to meet and it's the first little spark that ignites this big love that everyone knows is Romeo and Juliet. Have not saints lips and holy palmers too? I pilgrim lips that they must use in prayer. Oh then dear saint let lips do what hands do. And this scene is played probably as close to the audience as you can get but the person does not get clearer the closer I get. The person remains a black fuzzy blob. I don't start to see a face I don't start to see the color of a shirt but I do notice that the seat is down. It's not my eyes tricking me there is a person sitting in that seat. So we finish the scene. There's this moment of silence no one says anything. We're giving them the opportunity to say hello they're very close to us they're not that far away it's awkward that they don't say anything. It feels a little dangerous. When nothing happens and it's pure silence and something's still there the only option at that point is to go. And I said let's go let's get out of here. The closest exit off the stage is to continue straight up the aisle that goes through the audience into the lobby and down the hill into the parking lot. But what it means is we have to go past this figure and you know we're walking with purpose but I couldn't help myself. I turn my head to the right and I get a good look at this person this figure. And even from that close really three or four feet away it's still just black and fuzzy. There's there's no features it's a black mass that had enough weight that the seat was down. I think the most frightening thing is the proximity I had to this person did not inspire them to address me. It didn't move it didn't turn towards me. And that felt very odd. My heart's racing it's the fight or flight it's the adrenaline it's the urgency to get away. So when we reach the landing that is the lobby at this point I have to check in with Andy and so I turn to him and I say did you see. And I jump in immediately and say the thing coming down aisle five in the theater. And we just start running. We're kind of like you know giggling and kind of whispering and like what is going on what was that. As we get to the bottom of the hill we climb into one of our cars and we start talking about it to try to get some sort of rationale to the situation. We say OK hold on let's let's think about this realistically. Who could that have been. Is it so and so is it Matt is it maybe Tracy who is also directing. So we call Matt. He doesn't pick up the phone we leave a voicemail. Hey man were you just in the theater. What are you were you up there. Is that you were you playing a trick on us. We call Tracy she doesn't pick up we leave a message. Nobody called me back that night. So I still thought maybe it was Matt you know just being weird and maybe he thought we couldn't see him. You know I really was just trying to rationalize the event. As I'm lying in bed all I'm thinking is I have no explanation of what I've what I've experienced tonight. I don't believe it's someone I've known out there if it was someone I know they would have said something. Which is never felt like this was a normal situation. So the next day I had a scheduled check in with Brenda DeVita my boss just in her office. I said OK so this thing happened to me and Andy last night. Is her a groundskeeper. Is there anyone who would have been up there around 10 o'clock when all the lights are off. And she kind of looked at me and she said no no if there's no show there's nobody up the hill. I said OK well let me tell you this whole story of what happened. She starts to get emotional. And she goes OK stay right there stay right there. And she runs out of her office and she grabs Ken Albers. Ken Albers is a director with a huge history of experience in the theater. She knew those actors. He knew the history. And she said Ken listen to this. Kelsey tell it again. I told the story again. She looks at Ken she goes what do you think and he goes it was Stephen. We met Stephen last night. Stephen Heming was a much much loved actor at EPT. There's a memorial built for Stephen at the theater like a little garden plot essentially that is in memory of Stephen Heming. He played the friar. People remember him in that role. In Romeo and Juliet there's a character Friar Lawrence who essentially is there to bridge the gap between these two families. And he sees and tests the love of Romeo toward Juliet even telling him straight up basically that this is passion this is lust this is not love. And Romeo proves to him. So the friar is the person that clandestinely goes and helps these two form their love. So far as to marry them in secret. When we told everyone our experience everyone immediately replied with we felt Stephen in the space. One of the things that Ken said in this meeting was I think Stephen just was there to watch the kids fall in love one more time. The friar is this beautiful supportive force in the story and that's what he was for us that night. The person that joins their hands in matrimony in the show comes in and helps us figure this stuff out. So on the actual performance day it was it was a 2 p.m. matinee not for a full house. And then as we start performing it becomes the hottest day on record. Andy and I were both terribly ill. We both had terrible terrible colds. We're both probably have fevers or something. I have to say that I think the experience of rehearsing the play in the dark with a ghost felt closer to the actual story that Shakespeare wrote than our performance. We shared a secret. We had a thrilling experience together. We experienced something that no one else will understand. And that's what Romeo and Juliet have. They have a connection that only they really know about. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Now Spooks Dis. We walk this path together Spook Season 6 and if you yourself possess an inexplicable power which no one will believe, tell me all about it. Let us know your story. Spook at SnapJudgment.org because there is nothing better than a Spook story from a Spook listener. Spook at SnapJudgment.org and let the dark side know that you Spook with some Spook year, the t-shirt of your dreams available right now at SnapJudgment.org. And remember, if you like your storytelling under the bright light of day, it would be amazing, stupendous Snap Judgment podcast. It might just change your life because of storytelling with a beat. Spook was created by the team that picnics and cemeteries except of course for Mark Ristage because of the incident. There's an assessment, Eliza Smith, Chris Hambrick, Annie Newen, Lauren Newsom, Leon Morimoto, Davey Kim, Renzo Gorial, Tael Dicott, Marissa Dodge, Zoe Ferdinand, Tiffany DeLisa, Jacob Winnick, Anne Ford and Doug Stewart. The Spook theme song is by Pat McSeedy Miller. My name is from Washington and I understand that even to the people closest to you, people you love most in the world, there are things you hold secret. I'm revealed even from them. It's as it should be, but never withhold hard-won information that can save everything you hold dear. Let them know that you know to never, ever, never, ever, never, ever, ever, ever, never turn out the lights. Thank you.