Verona Beach is dominated by the long-standing rivalry between two wealthy families, the Montagues and Capulets. Following another outbreak of violence between the two clans, which results in a gun battle between Montague Benvolio and two Capulets, Tybalt and Petruchio, the Chief of Police, Captain Prince, warns both sides not to disturb the peace again. Benvolio questions his young cousin Romeo about his recent distractedness; Romeo admits he loves the fair Rosaline, but he is out of favour with her. Benvolio tells him to forget about her and gatecrash the masked ball being held that night by the Capulets. Romeo manages to sneak in where he falls instantly in love with the Capulets' daughter, Juliet. However, when he learns of her identity, he broods aloud underneath her balcony; she comes out and the two declare their love, vowing to elope the next day. Juliet manages to persuade a sympathetic priest, Father Laurence, to marry them, which he does. Later, Benvolio and his friend Mercutio are fooling around on the beach when the hotheaded Tybalt and a gang of fellow Capulets confront them. Romeo intervenes, but is attacked; when Mercutio tries to intervene, Tybalt stabs him to death. Romeo retaliates by shooting Tybalt dead and is exiled, spending one night with Juliet before escaping to the nearby town on Mantua. A despairing Juliet, threatening suicide, approaches Father Laurence, who recommends she take a sleeping drug which while make it appear she has died for 24-hours; after she wakes up, she can run away to Mantua and be reunited with Romeo. However, Romeo hears about his loved one's "demise" before he hears about the real reason for it. A splendid adaptation of Shakespeare's classic, intelligently updated and beautifully acted which does much to restore the Bard's relevance to life today as it did in his own time.