ENB 'Romeo & Juliet' reviews 'Romeo & Juliet' reviews Klimentova in reviews Wikstrom in reviews recent ENB reviews

Nureyev's R&J does not, surprisingly perhaps, revolve around Romeo, or even around Juliet. The key to it is the idea of Fate, of Death, sinisterly omnipresent. From the opening with its semi-naked, pale-faced gamblers dicing with death, followed by a huge (and noisy) cart loaded with corpses - a reference to the plague -we are in no doubt that this story is about doom, danger and disaster. Ezio Frigerio's designs - richly coloured costumes, colour coded for Montagues (greenish) and Capulets (red), and distant backgrounds of domes and pillars, sometimes vague, sometimes with a Canaletto-like clarity - are strong and effective, though I don't think they equal the Georgiadis ones.

The choreography is certainly difficult - I spent the first act worrying about the dancers, which I don't think is how it should be. I found it often curiously graceless, even awkward, and also frequently unmusical, odd for so musical a dancer. I really don't think it was the dancers' fault that they often had difficulty fitting the steps to the music. I was reminded of a comment by either Edur or Oaks: "It is over-choreographed. Lovely steps, but no time to look in each other's eyes." Exactly.

The humour is not exactly subtle - lots of face-pulling, bottom-wiggling and gesturing. It is very recognisably Nureyev's humour, the same as in Cinderella. A lot of it falls to Mercutio, of whom more later.

The second act, leading to the deaths of Tybalt and Mercutio, is the most successful - it has the tightest dramatic construction, though the wedding of Romeo and Juliet in the chapel is very strange indeed, with much contortion and twining. I really did not understand what Nureyev was getting at here. In the third act, where the dramatic screw should be tightening, there are too many deviations. The scene where Juliet contemplates suicide is confusing unless you are very familiar with the play, and far too long. The death-and-doom theme teeters on the edge of absurdity when the lines (luckily given prominence in the programme) "Come, nurse, I'll to my wedding bed/And Death, not Romeo, take my maidenhead" are taken too literally. Juliet lies down on the bed, and a black-cloaked figure with a skull-like face (Death, presumably) lies on top of her.

This is followed by the premature celebrations of the wedding of Paris and Juliet, which of course never takes place. The mandolin dance is here, and an ensemble wedding dance beautifully costumed in white and cream. All this detracts from the drama, as it seems to be merely a standard wedding divertissement, though I think the idea is to contrast it with the discovery of the apparently dead Juliet, so that the wedding turns into a funeral. At some point, though I now can't remember where (I told you it wss confusing) there is a very complex and highly dangerous dance with flags. One or two of the flags were dropped, but nobody actually lost an eye as far as I could see, which was a miracle.

There are then scenes in Mantua, where Romeo is exiled, before the denouement and deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Sadly, I didn't feel moved.

I am aware that there is a lot of carping in this review, so I'll end with some praise. My admiration of the dancers for coping with this ballet is boundless. There were some wonderful performances. Daria Klimentova threw herself into her role of Juliet with total commitment and passion. She is a lovely dancer, light as a leaf, with feet like needles, and also a very strong personality that could hold the stage. She was also the most musical - it shows it can be done, even with this choreography. Jan-Erik Witstrom as Romeo started wwith a beautifully danced solo, but his character never really emerged, and at times he and Paris (Juanjo Arques) were almost indistinguishable. I'm sure this will improve with time. Yat- Sen Chang was a remarkable Mercutio, dealing with all the so-called humour with relish and high energy, very impressive. Cameron McMillan's gentler Benvolio was a good contrast. Praise also for Gary Avis's strongly projected Tybalt, another excellent performance.

The orchestra under Anthony Twiner had a few first-night glitches, notably some doubtful brass playing, but again I feel it just needs time to settle. This is why I don't like first nights.

If I have the energy I will go on Saturday as well, if only to see if the corps are still alive, and if the performance generally has started to relax.