The Chorus’s opening speech in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is called the Prologue.
It appears before Act 1 and introduces the setting, the rival families, the lovers’ fate, and the eventual reconciliation. The speech is a sonnet, giving it a tightly organized fourteen-line form while also functioning as a concise plot summary. Shakespeare uses the Chorus to provide information before the dramatic action begins.
The Prologue is not an epilogue. An epilogue comes at the end of a work and reflects on events after they occur, while this speech prepares the audience for what will follow. In Romeo and Juliet, the prologue is unusually revealing because it announces that the lovers will die, removing suspense about the outcome and shifting attention toward how the tragedy unfolds.
The speech is spoken by a Chorus rather than by Romeo, Juliet, Friar Laurence, or the Prince. Some productions assign it to a visible performer, while others present it through voice-over or projected text.