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John Cranko's production, from 1962, is very natural and straightforward. Some simple highlights include the fighting between the families in Act 1 which is more than tapping swords but a riot of everybody throwing anything they can readily grab in the marketplace; that the duke of Verona is a very doddery old man, incapable of keeping any order and that Juliet when first spied is not playing with a doll but very excited by her new party dress and the prospect of the ball. And then there's the playful way the balcony pdd starts with Romeo helping Juliet climb down and posting her back up after the innocence of their duet. There is also wonderful ensemble dancing in Act 2 and a Mandolin dance full of sharp fun. I could go on.

The original designs by Jurgen Rose are a particular delight and appear to have been rejuvenated. The set makes great use of a high-level walkway going the full width of the stage and it lends a greater air of bustle and animation. Behind the walkway are views of distant glimpsed interiors and rich exotic gardens. The costumes are light, float well and are less fussy than we are used to. The company, the boys in particular, look tall, strong and well-schooled. None more so than Friedemann Vogel as Romeo, who seems to have the same effect on women as Roberto Bolle does. A good boyish Romeo but no sop. Katja Wunsche's Juliet was a harder job - her height makes it difficult to see the girl and dramatically she didn't start to connect until the final act. But she makes nice shapes and jumps well. Some others felt very differently but the great Marcia Haydee's Lady Capulet I thought most unconvincing. At 70 she looks way too old to be a mother, moves uneasily and with a "general pained expression" much of the time. Better to remember her considerable triumphs earlier in life, I think.

Although I enjoyed the production much for itself, perhaps the single most striking thing on seeing Cranko's tale is how very much MacMillan "borrowed" from it for his own production mounted 3 years later. Although they remained friends I can't help but feel that if this happened now there would a long queue of no-win-no-fee lawyers waiting to have words with Cranko about how they might make him considerably richer.

While there is much to love, Cranko has at least one appalling lapse of dramatic taste in having Juliet's friends do a pretty dance in front of her bed, wafting flowers inventively, and ending in a beautifully constructed 19th century group pose that forces applause, and all in the presence of an apparently stone-dead Juliet. To have us applaud is Bonkers dramatically. And MacMillan's crypt scene is much stronger too, it has to be said. But I love Cranko's lightness of touch and it speaks to me of young lovers convincingly, just as much as the heavier version we know so well. If you too were Romeo'd out then I implore you to see this version and be rejuvenated too (...or at least see where some of MacMillan's inspiration came from).