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Prokofiev's score has been heavily cut, and this streamlined production which has a contemporary setting is divided into two succinct acts which last for slightly over two hours. The first act ends with Lady Capulet mourning over Tybalt's death. Some scenes seem perfunctory and are too short to make an impact, for instance the carnival scene in the streets after the balcony scene. Two characters have been omitted - Juliet's nurse and Benvolio.

Interestingly the corps de ballet are almost constantly on stage, even during the balcony scene and in the bedroom pas de deux. They function like a Greek tragic chorus, observing and commenting on the action even if not participating. Sometimes they even seem like a backdrop. At the end of the bedroom pas de deux, Romeo disappears into a black-clad male corps de ballet which engulfs him. And at the end of the ballet Juliet stabs herself with a knife facing the corps de ballet instead of the audience.
 

There are some good innovative ideas. It was fun to see Mercutio dressed as a woman to seduce Tybalt in the ballroom scene. The fighting scenes are tame and stylised, making Romeo's repeated stabbing of Tybalt more shocking and violent in contrast.

Donnellan has deliberately adopted an anti-romantic approach. There is not a big soaring pas de deux in the balcony scene to touch our hearts. In fact Romeo hardly has much contact with Juliet in this scene who is often lifted high by the corps de ballet. And in the low-keyed wedding scene where Juliet just wears trousers, there is hardly much contact between the two except a brief kiss at the end. Juliet in this production is an assertive and headstrong character, much more so than in other productions. She can also be quite violent, as when she kicks and bites Paris in the confronation scene in Act 2.

Donnellan also clearly shows in this production Lady Capulet's affair with Tybalt. She is jealous when she sees Tybalt flirting with Mercutio in the ballroom scene whom he mistakes to be a woman.

Not surprisingly the choreographer Poklitaru has done away with pointe shoes altogether and has deliberately eschewed steps from the classical ballet vocabulary, in order to make the ballet totally modern. Poklitaru is influenced in his choreographic style by Mats Ek, as shown by his fondness for grotesque movements and his exaggerated cartoony style.
 

However Poklitaru's choreography is singularly unmemorable, limited in dynamic range and scale, and extremely repetitive. It is puzzling to see the corps constantly wriggling their arms, and violently shaking their upper bodies. It is disappointing that the choreography seems detached and hardly enhances the drama. The best choreography is the bedroom pas de deux when there is finally some passion which is a welcome relief from the prevalent starkness on stage. However the moment towards the end when Romeo kisses Juliet's foot is offputting.

Like Ek, Poklitaru also has the dancers laughing and shouting aloud on stage occasionally, for instance when they laugh at Tybalt being outwitted by Mercutio. Juliet's scream at the end after her discovery of the dead Romeo however is eerily moving.

I cannot help thinking that the choreography would have been far better if the choreographer had been the present Bolshoi Ballet director Alexei Ratmansky who has more flair with the ballet vocabulary and whose productions for other companies, e.g. the Kirov's "Cinderella" and the Royal Danish Ballet's "Anna Karenina", have impressed me in the past few years.

The whole Bolshoi company were magnificent last night. The dancing was fresh and vibrant. Maria Alexandrova's harsh personality, not right for her Kitri last week, perfectly fitted Donnellan's conception of Juliet in this production. She is a fine dance actress. She was particularly dramatic in the scene when she hesitated to take the sleeping potion, and most moving in the tragic climax.

Maria Alexandrova in Declan Donnellan's Romeo and Juliet
© I Zakharkin

Denis Savin, a talented 20-year-old dancer still in the corps de ballet, was an ardent and passionate Romeo. His youthfulness was touching. In the bedroom pas de deux his ribs were clearly visible when he was dancing bare-chested. He was dramatically intense in the scene when he revenged for Mercutio and repeatedly stabbed Tybalt, and in the ending.

Also impressive was Yuri Klevtsov who danced Mercutio with relish. He was hilarious in the ballroom scene when his cross-dressing duped Tybalt. His death scene was well acted. Ilze Liepa was a dominant and sexy Lady Capulet. Nicholas Ormerod's contemporary costumes are pleasing, and his simple rectangular sets are quite effective. It was a pleasure to see this innovative Bolshoi production by Declan Donnellan despite the weak choreography.