Director: Matthew Bourne
Choreographer: Matthew Bourne
Music: Sergei Prokofiev
Whether viewed as a weakness, a strength, an eternal yearning which completes us, or a distraction, its various forms of love will never feel the same for any two people – so the complexity in capturing its nuances and impacts can only be captured by a few. Shakespeare’s story of the star-crossed lovers Juliet Capulet and Romeo Montague doomed from the beginning, is one such tale.
Mathew Bourne is noted for making alterations to the source material. Often the accompanying juxtaposition flourishes into a refreshing and challenging piece which rejuvenates a passion for movement and captivates new audiences experiencing these ‘dusty’ stories in a new light. Returning four years after its premiere,Romeo + Juliet’spenetration into the psyche of youth, power, love and torment, in ways, is as true to Shakespeare’s ultimate tragedy as it could be.
That’s the force within Bourne’s creation: even those who may not be personal fans of what has been crafted cannot deny the sheer nerve and aptitude in pushing the boundaries of the traditional art form to new telling. The tone, occasionally, can be jarring – more so than the jittering and sharp movements. Sequences of sexual assault sit side-by-side to comedic routines, the necessary levity understandable, if a touch crass.
This clinical structure, designed by Lez Brotherston, without a trace of colour outside of the ‘Verona Institute’ painted in bold black atop the walls, works as a beautifully blank canvas for the production: cold, unfeeling, but enabling the few instances of colour (chiefly that of crimson, unsurprisingly) to strike out. Allure is the ultimate power within these cells, it’s the one thing that the wardens and doctors cannot control – even those who take it by force. Sexual, physical, romantic, even platonic and the use of love as a survival tool are all visible in this cold and unfeeling panoptical asylum designed to incarcerate the unwanted problem youths.
Equally clad in white, awaiting their grim fate, the youthful gaze in these lovers is magnificently captured in Cordelia Braithwaite and Rory Macleod. In both choreographed movement and performance, the Shakespearean element of conventional performance exists in flickering moments as the pair communicate everything with unspoken movement and expression. The initial bewilderment of doe-eyes grounds Romeo in a naïve innocence of youth as Macleod transitions from a young man into a weary and broken one, his bouncing and nervous energy channelled into a purposeful, occasionally violent, command of space.
Framed by Prokofiev’s defining score, manipulated by Terry Davies to incorporate the sirens and clatters of the institute, Bourne once more challenges the preconceptions of form, both that of Shakespeare’s narrative and traditional ballet. This is an incarnation of the tale that bathes itself in the psyche of passion, saturating its crisp-white innocence in crimson streaks. It won’t be to everyone’s taste – but it should command everyone’s attention with its compelling energy and spontaneous movement.
Runs until 23 September 2023, then continues on tour | Image: Johan Persson
The Reviews Hub Score
Compelling
