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As posted on our Postings pages...

This was an extraordinarily powerful mixed programme, albeit very oddly timed for an early afternoon "first night" - I agree with Lynette that it was peculiar to come out of Different Drummer into the bright sunshine of the Floral Hall. But, unlike others who have posted, it was the powerful expressionism of DD that really made the programme a triumph for me and I came out in the second Act needing a drink!

We can all look for literal explanations of things we don't quite understand but personally I'm happy not to have all the answers. I came to assume that 'The Soldier' was a vision and/or an articulation of conscience (particularly for Marie). I'm also taken by the fact that the experimentation/medical intervention on soldiers - which clearly influenced Buchner in the early 19th Century but is still a topical and very real subject today with ex-soldiers claiming damages from experiments perpetrated on them 50 years ago - was a significant part of the text and much of Woyzeck's mental and physical instability was caused by the experiments on his body. It seems reasonable to believe that everything we see stems from this abuse.

I agree absolutely that Leanne Benjamin was superb in the multi-faceted role of Marie, clearly maximising the advantage of learning the role directly from MacMillan; I also felt that Watson did a fine job as Woyzeck in terms of conveying his growing isolation from reality leading him to become the outsider in every sense. I thought that it was a very finely observed performance that further enhances his credentials the latest in a long line of leading male MacMillan interpreters.

I liked Chroma more than I had previously; I love the almost androgynous aspect to the ensemble - the aggressive attack of the women and the feminine grace of the men (where Underwood's solo and the pas de trois of McRae, Watkins and Ondiviela were positively feline). It is a hugely successful collaboration in which the music and the set design are major contributors to enhancing McGregor's movement and I have rarely seen his work have a better pace or a more integral affinity to the music.

I have always loved the Royal's Rite and think that it is one of many MacMillan masterpieces. Tamara's performance as the Chosen One (and by the way I agree that it would be better for the Chosen Maiden not to be so uniquely identified from the beginning) is more earthy and boyish (only possible for Tamara under a cake of make-up)than Mara but I confess to preferring the more obvious fear in Mara's anticipation of the events unfolding around her; where her facial expressiveness is second to none - it transferred better to me in the Upper Amphi than Tamara's did to the back stalls. But it's a triumph for the whole ensemble who get around that nightmare 30 minutes of counting superbly well - there's such a lot of experience in that body of dancers now and it shows.