The magic is gone.
Shaken by the accidental kiss, Romeo and Juliet return to the stage as two men desperately trying not to feel anything. Blake recites his lines like a wooden plank, dies like a man eager to escape, and refuses to look at Lucius at all.
Lucius rises too fast, mumbles every line, pecks Blake’s cheek like a terrified diplomat, and dies with the enthusiasm of someone doing chores.
The cast stares, horrified.
Shakespeare beams, calling it “revolutionary.”
Everyone else thinks he’s lost his mind — including the two immortals who just delivered the worst romance in theatre history.