The cast of Matthew Bourne’s ROMEO AND JULIET. Photo Credit: Johan Persson
Effectively playing with light and shadow, Matthew Bourne’s ROMEO AND JULIET is a passionate and contemporary re-imagining of Shakespeare’s classic love story
Sir Matthew Bourne’s ROMEO AND JULIET is an interesting reimagining of the bard’s iconic love story. Set in an institute, the staging portrays somewhat of an asylum with its Victorian tiled white walls and bright lights. Yet this production offers some great symbolism and trickery, with its effective lighting casting shadows and reflections making you really wonder whether you saw what you did or whether it was just a reflection.
This all harks back to the feelings of being trapped in an institution as you are drawn into the performance, the shadows acting as a fight between reality and thoughts. This is a beautiful yet interesting way to instil the feelings that young people are experiencing every day, which was Bourne’s primary goal when choreographing ROMEO AND JULIET as a performance by young dancers.
New Adventures is an iconic British dance-theatre company that has been Matthew Bourne’s battleground for 30 years. Famous for telling stories with a unique theatrical twist, the dance company inspires and nurtures people of all ages and backgrounds: audiences, artists and the next generation of dancers. Through projects and workshops, they have gathered together a cast of talented dancers, choreography associates, set and lighting and sound design.
The cast of Matthew Bourne’s ROMEO AND JULIET. Photo Credit: Johan Persson
At each venue of this tour of ROMEO AND JULIET, six young talented dancers have been chosen to perform on stage alongside the professional company. After a series of auditions around the country, the chosen few are workshopped and rehearsed in New Adventures techniques, blending seamlessly into the show so much so that you wouldn’t know that they haven’t been touring with the performance for many years.
As well as championing young dancers, the show also has a young Associate Orchestrator and Sound Designer in Alexander Ling and Rachel Goldberg. The foley sound is thoughtfully introduced and the live orchestra truly uplifts this ballet experience. Only 15 musicians perform the score and it is quite rare for New Adventures to take an orchestra out on tour with them, but at times, it sounds like there is a full Hallé in the pit. Terry Davies has reimagined Prokofiev’s original score yet still remained true to the essence of the orchestration. The strong opening of Prokofiev’s Montagues and Capulets, which is continuously returned, creates a backdrop for the dancers to depict the drama of Shakespeare without the need for words.
The dancers themselves are completely stunning. With grace and poise, they at times float around the stage, with the stamina of a marathon runner, working as an ensemble to portray feelings of love and grief with utter credence. Cordila Braithwaite as Juliet and Paris Fitzpatrick as Romeo are a standout pairing, blending seamlessly into each other at moments. Hannah Mason also stands out for her performance and is certainly someone to watch in future.
The cast of Matthew Bourne’s ROMEO AND JULIET. Photo Credit: Johan Persson
Dan Wright as Tybalt the Guard offers experience and dominance over the younger dancers both in stature and performance. The pairing of Mercutio and his boyfriend Balthasar in Reece Causton and Jackson Fisch is equally inspired and draws the ballet into the modern age by exploring sexuality and emotion through the pair, Jackson’s depiction of grief at Mecutio’s death standing out as being particularly powerful.
Shame then that the story of warring families separating the pair of star crossed lovers seems a little lost here. This production appears more to be about the young against the institution, the fight against the misguided authority who, through abuse of power, seeks to keep the young down. No lessons also seem to be learnt from the untimely death of the young protagonists, just the mental anguish of a young woman whose frenzy leads to the death of her love and herself.
That said, this is a passionate and contemporary re-imagining of Shakespeare’s classic love story that is sure to stay with you long after the curtain has fallen.
Matthew Bourne’s ROMEO AND JULIET runs at The Lowry, Salford until 15 June 2019.
Vikki Rutter is a North West review writer, working in the glamorous world of TV. Lover of travel and cats, although travelling cats not so much.
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