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 Royal
New Zealand Ballet
'Romeo &
Juliet'
by Kate Snedeker
May 13, 2004 -- Edinburgh
Festival Theatre
In
a striking twist of fate, the Royal New Zealand Ballet's performance of
Christopher Hampson's "Romeo and Juliet" in Edinburgh started
at almost exactly the same time as the performance of the balcony scene
from "Romeo & Juliet" - part of the Command Performance
at the Royal Theatre - in Copenhagen. The Royal New Zealand Ballet was
founded by Dane, and the dancers in Copenhagen were an Australian and
a Dane. While the the theatre in Edinburgh may have lacked royalty, TV
cameras and fancy decorations, the Royal New Zealand dancers put on a
no less sensational display of dancing and theatrics.
Though clearly inspired by his childhood memories of Kenneth MacMillan's
classic production, Hampson melds classical with Corleone, placing his
Capulets and Montagues in a hip 1950s Verona . The fighting families are
now Mafia-esque and edgy, the swords replaced by baseball bats and the
gowns & brocaded jackets by slick suits and short skirts. Craig Lord's
red-satin-trouser-clad Romeo is a lanky waiter, Megan Futcher's youthful
Juliet the daughter of a rival family.
 The
curtain rises to reveal Tracy Grant's clever set: initially a narrow,
pale stone-walled Veronese street, it swings around to form the stone
walls of Juliet's bedroom, the Capulet courtyard and, of course, the balcony.
The space feels a bit cramped at first, but the set brings the action
forward on the stage, so the dancing is up close and personal. The dancers
are on the edge of the stage, the audience the edge of their seats.
The strengths of the performance are in the group scenes and the supporting
roles. Geordie Wilcox' Tybalt is flashy and smooth, a man not to be messed
with. Yet, it is Jacob Shofer's swaggering, prancing Mercutio who steals
the show with his antics and dramatics. Shofer, a nimble dancer and born
showman, blends just the right amount of camp with honest emotion, making
Mercutio a truly loveable character. Thus his agonizing death is all the
more heart-wrenching.
Nadine Tyson's Lady Capulet is no-nonsense, fiery and carrying on with
Tybalt. Given Tyson's powerful dramatics, it is a shame that Hampson chooses
to be so literal as to use fake blood in Tybalt's death scene. There is
enough metaphorical blood and pain in Tyson's performance that the "real
thing" feels fake and out-of-place.
However,
the most memorable performance came from Pieter Symonds as a youngish,
but poignant and dedicated Nurse. Part maid, part nanny and part confidant,
you could see her devotion to and growing relationship with her young
charge.
The opening street melee is edgy and dramatic, with knives glinting in
the light, but the ballroom scene is the most visually and emotionally
stunning. The ladies are clad in deeply hued, full-skirted dresses and
have marvelous feather trimmed masks atop their heads, while the men are
outfitted in long satin vest-jackets. Accompanied by Prokofiev's moody,
throbbing score, it looks for all the world like some kind of exotic avian
mating dance, a dance that brings two hearts together, as the orchestral
heart-beat pounds.
The balcony scene was nicely, if a bit blandly danced by Lord and Futcher.
As the young lovers, they were solid individually, but through the first
two acts they didn't seem to have a believable connection. However, the
real emotion burst through in the bedroom and crypt scenes. In a refreshing
touch of realism, the young lovers wake up in underclothes amongst disheveled
sheets. Lord is much taller than his diminutive partner, but this size
differential is used to choreographic advantage. At the climax of of the
bedroom scene, Futcher rises though a perfect releve up onto pointe in
one fluid motion to kiss Lord. It's a wonderful example of combining stellar
technique and moving choreography.
In the final scene, Futcher and Lord rose to the emotional crescendo of
Prokofiev's music, matching anguished movement to soaring musical note.
Futcher was especially moving, her character having matured from an innocent
young girl to a heart-broken young woman, as evident in the deepening
emotion of her dancing. The end recalls how close and yet how far the
two lovers came to a life of happiness - for Juliet wakes from her potion-induced
sleep in the same split second that Romeo's potion takes its deadly effect,
one hand rising and one hand dropping - the difference of a millisecond
and a lifetime.
Edited by Holly Messitt
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