A Modern Theatre Review presented by www.stagebeauty.net

Romeo and Juliet

Ballet by Sergei Prokofiev

Performed by Moscow City Ballet

Directed by Ludmila Nerubashenko

St. George's Hall, Bradford

Date of Performance: Sunday 12th January, 2014.

Duration: 2 hours, 55 minutes (two intervals, total 35 mins)

Review by Don Gillan, www.stagebeauty.net

Synopsis


Programme

When Romeo and Juliet fall in love, a long-standing feud between their warring families, the Montagues and Capulets, stands between them - as does Paris, an eligible suitor that Juliet's parents have chosen for her to marry. When Romeo is driven to kill Tybalt, Juliet's arrogant cousin, he is banished from the city and Juliet is driven to desperate measures to avoid her parents plan to force her to marry Paris, and a missing letter leads to a tragic ending.

Show Detailed Synopsis (WARNING - SPOILER!!!)

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Prologue

The Lords Montague and Capulet are locked in mortal combat with broadswords. The bodies of Tybalt, Mercutio, Romeo and Juliet appear, borne by spectres of death - a chilling portent of events to come.

ACT I

In the town square in the city of Verona the two feuding families of the Montagues and Capulets taunt each other until a fight breaks out. The Prince of Verona arrives and orders an end to the fighting, and the Lords kneel before the Prince and pledge obedience. In the castle of the Capulets, fourteen-year-old Juliet is excited at the prospect of attending her first ball when her cousin, Tybalt, arrives with the gift of a beautiful gown. Guests begin to arrive and are greeted by Lord and Lady Capulet. Outside, Romeo is loitering with his Montague friends. As a peace offering, Lord Capulet invites them to the ball and they enter wearing masks. Juliet is dancing with Paris, a suitor, when Romeo notices her and intervenes. His friends push Paris away while Romeo takes his place, dancing with Juliet who wonders who is behind the mask. Eventually he discards the mask and embraces her. Tybalt recognises Romeo and is enraged at his intrusion. Only the intervention of Lord Capulet prevents a fight to the death and Romeo leaves with his friends. Later that evening, outside the Capulet Palace, he sees Juliet on her balcony and the lovers declare their eternal devotion.

ACT II

The next day, Romeo is day dreaming in the square when his friends arrive and cajole him into joining in the street festivities. But even the attractions of the colourful street girls cannot distract his mind from Juliet and he departs. The Montagues continue having fun until Tybalt arrives with his knights and Mercutio leads the Montagues in mocking him. Juliet's nurse arrives with a letter for Romeo. His friends tease her and try to intercept the letter but Romeo returns and, receiving the letter, reads of Juliet's love for him and her wish that they should marry. He rushes off to show the letter to Friar Lawrence and persuade him to perform the ceremony. Thinking it will unite the two feuding families and end the hostilities, Friar Lawrence agrees and when Juliet arrives he marries the young couple. Back in the square, the antagonism between Mercutio and Tybalt escalates into a swordfight. Romeo arrives and tries to stop them. He offers Tybalt the hand of friendship but Tybalt rejects it and the fight continues. Romeo attempts to intervene again but Tybalt breaks away and, catching Mercutio off-guard, delivers a fatal strike. Urged by his friends to avenge the killing of Mercutio, Romeo snatches up a sword and duels with Tybalt, killing him. Juliet arrives and is distraught to find the body of her fallen cousin. Juliet's nurse and Lady Capulet arrive, grief stricken. To prevent further bloodshed, the Prince of Verona banishes Romeo from the city.

ACT III

Juliet is praying by her bedside when Romeo arrives, having sneaked back into the city. She is hesitant at first, but soon the dramatic events of the day are overwhelmed by the power of their love - they spend the night together. Romeo leaves before daybreak and Juliet's nurse arrives to dress her. Her parents arrive with Paris who has asked for her hand in marriage. He presents her with a beautiful wedding gown but she throws it back at him and desperately pleads with her parents. Lord and Lady Capulet dismiss her pleas and continue to insist she must marry Paris until she is forced to agree. When her parents leave, she runs to Friar Lawrence for help. He gives her a phial containing a potion that will send her into a deep sleep, indistinguishable from death. Returning home, she pretends to her parents to be happy before retiring to bed and drinking the potion. The following morning handmaidens and musicians arrive to celebrate Juliet's wedding day. Lord and Lady Capulet arrive with Paris, but when the nurse fails to wake Juliet she sees the phial fall from her seemingly lifeless hand. The nurse, Lord and Lady Capulet, and Paris are all distraught, beleiving Juliet is dead. That night Romeo returns to news of Juliet's death, a letter from Friar Lawrence explaining the true situation having failed to reach him. He enters Juliet's tomb to find her lifeless body. Paris arrives and Romeo kills him. Unable to bear life without Juliet, Romeo takes poison and lies by her side to die. Juliet awakens to find herself in the tomb next to Romeo's lifeless body. In despair she takes up Romeo's dagger and plunges it into her own breast, joining Romeo in death.

Epilogue

Monks bear aloft the bodies of Mercutio, Tybalt, Romeo and Juliet as the Lords and Ladies Montague and Capulet finally make peace, united in their grief.

Impressions/Performances

Romeo and Juliet is, unarguably, the most dramatic of the classical ballets. Even Prokofiev's music is heavily laced with drama. Where Tchaikovsky's melodies for his 'fairy ballets', for example, are soft, ethereal and generally uplifting, Prokoviev's "Romeo and Juliet" score is dark, forboding and run through with an almost ever-present hint of menace. Add to that grim picture swords fights, back-stabbing treachery, poison and a succession of grisly deaths and, well, let's just say that if the Hammer Film studios produced ballets, this would be first on the list.

With a large cast and full accompanying orchestra, Moscow City Ballet insist (in the programme) that they are a genuine ballet company, and not just a loose conglomeration of dancers put together for a UK tour under a Russian sounding name. In that respect they have a reputation to defend and, indeed, build upon, and in this, their current interpretation of Romeo and Juliet they have spared nothing in terms of either drama or spectacle.

The costumes are vivid and full of colour, the single backdrop set is beautifully detailed and manages to evoke a genuine sense of depth, whilst the choreography is as sharp, incisive, and perfectly attuned to the music as one could possibly hope for. The fight scenes, in particular, really stand - the best swordplay, in fact, I have ever seen in any ballet. Tybalt (Kanat Nadyrbek), in particular, leaps into the attack like a springing tiger thirsty for blood, followed by sword clashing against sword in a rapid exchange of thrust and counter-thrust as the combatants vie for supremacy. Pretty stirring stuff, but then so is the doomed love affair between the two principals.

In fact, just about everything in this Moscow City Ballet production is just right to perfectly capture the atmosphere of the story, and not least in the chemistry between the leading duo. Yuliya Zhuravleva is a superb dancer and her light frame and ginger curls, not to mention excellent acting, enabled her to easily pass for the naive young girl of the story, Juliet. Initially carefree, we see her bloom in the first flush of womanhood following her first encounter with Romeo, before becoming overwhelmed by feelings that are as unaccustomed to her as they are unsettling. Her partner, Talgat Kozhabayev, is an imposing figure, well remembered from other recent visits of the MCB, and delivers a Romeo who is confident and popular, but every bit as intense in his feelings for Juliet as hers are for him. This pair work really well together to bring real beleif and poignancy to the story of the doomed love affair.

"Romeo and Juliet" is a major ballet which imposes significant demands on any company and with as many as thirty dancers on the small stage at one time, and a similarly sized live orchestra filling the pit, this is no ersatz, cut-price version, but as good a representation as could be reasonably expected from any touring company. Light-hearted and playfully chaotic at times, dark and sinister, at others, but always colourful and richly produced, this version of the classic tale travels the full gamut of human emotion, from the joy of the celebration scenes to the exhilaration of the swordfights and the pathos of the final heart-breaking denouement.

Verdict

At times sublime and deeply moving, at others colourful and thrilling - a production sure to enchant balletomanes and novices alike.

Don Gillan - www.stagebeauty.net


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