Character on the couch: # 4 Juliet
Each week we subject one of drama's great personalities to psychoanalysis. Today Juliet is played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw. The psychiatrist is Leo Benedictus.
Psychiatrist: How are you this week?
Juliet: Out of control. Desperately trying to hang on to my last hope, which is this new plan that the friar has come up with. I'm so excited! If it doesn't work, well, I can't bear to carry on ...
P: What's the problem?
J: I told Daddy I wouldn't marry Paris and he erupted. So I had to apologise to make him believe that I was sorry. I felt as if I was acting in front of him.
P: How do you get on with him normally?
J: Daddy and I are so close, but at the moment he doesn't understand. We had a lovely, lovely relationship ... and now it's just ... shattered ...
P: I see. (Slides box of tissues across table.) And how about your mother?
J: (Snorts derisively.) My mother is more concerned with the wedding and the guest list, and making sure we get the right amount of champagne.
P: Is there anyone you can confide in?
J: I always shared everything with Nursey, but since her betrayal I can't communicate with anyone, really. I'm on my own. My final, desperate idea was to go to the friar. He has given me this potion. I just pray it will work.
P: This is a very difficult time for you.
J: My only hope is the possibility of being with Romeo, of us continuing our life together and getting rid of all these lies ... (Begins to weep again.)
P: Adolescence is a difficult time for many. Perhaps the experience of going behind your parents' backs has made you see their imperfections?
J: Yes. I can't explain how much I feel I've grown in just the last few hours. I can't really relate to them in any way.
P: That was a good session, but I should warn you against taking anything that hasn't been prescribed by a professional.
J: Of course.
P: Do you know if the friar has any formal medical training?
J: It's more a kind of complementary thing. Homeopathy is my only hope.
· Gugu Mbatha-Raw is appearing in Romeo and Juliet at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, until October 22. Box office: 0161-833 9833.