Romeo and Juliet

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While Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale has been delighting audiences at the Royal Opera House in the past few weeks, his more familiar story of star-crossed lovers is on at Sadler’s Wells, where Northern Ballet is performing its own version of this enduring ballet. Directed by the late Christopher Gable (upon whom MacMillan created Romeo in his famous 1965 production) and with choreography by Massimo Moricone, it is an ideal piece for this smaller, touring company.

Back in 2015, the sets and costumes were almost destroyed by a flood in the company’s storage facilities, but thankfully careful restoration has enabled the production to return once more to the stage. The story zips along at a fast pace – there has been some trimming of Prokofiev’s powerful score but any omissions do not detract from the narrative and there are some lovely dramatic touches along the way. Thunder and lightning punctuate the piece at various moments, with a sudden storm bringing the end of Act II with its death of Tybalt to a shocking close. On Juliet’s wedding morning, her friends enter the bedroom, dancing and scattering rose petals around the room before discovering her (apparent) corpse – another moving moment.

There are moments of humour along the way, with Juliet’s Nurse (played by Heather Lehan at the performance I saw) providing many of the laughs. The Montague and Capulet fights are more street brawls than sword skirmishes (which can often look too staged if done poorly), with punches flying and nasty spitting.

Opening night at Sadler’s Wells saw Dominique Larose as a beautiful Juliet, who has a lovely line but also convinces as a young girl, throwing an almighty hissy fit when confronted by her angry parents with Paris as her prospective husband. Joseph Taylor has the height and power to dominate the stage as Romeo, but Aaron Kok steals the show as a wonderful Mercutio: speedy, with excellent elevation and a fine stage presence.

The Northern Ballet Sinfonia was conducted by Daniel Parkinson – they were leafleting the audience as they entered the theatre and waved banners in their campaign to keep the company’s music live. Financial cuts mean that the live orchestra is under threat and some productions may be replaced with recorded music, which would be terrible. Live dancers, live musicians please!

Northern Ballet in Romeo and Juliet is at Sadler’s Wells until June 1, then at various venues around the country until 26th October.