Choreography: Graeme Murphy
Costume design: Akira Isogawa
Set Design: Gerard Manion
Lighting Design: Damien Cooper
Projections design: Jason Lam
The Australian Ballet - Sydney Opera House, Wednesday matinee, 14th December 2011.
Reviewed by Bill Stephens.
There is always a frisson of excitement in the theatre before the curtain rises on a new Graeme Murphy ballet. Audiences know that while his re-imaginings of the classics are unlikely to please everyone, they can depend that they will be wonderfully theatrical, intriguing, and perhaps even challenging. “Romeo and Juliet” was no exception.
Those who had read the reviews of the Melbourne season of “Romeo and Juliet” had a fair expectation that this production was certainly not going to be traditional. But then who expects a Murphy ballet to be traditional ?
There were also other reasons for the excitement at this performance. A quick glance at the program revealed that this performance would be the first in the lead roles for Juliet Burnett and Rudy Hawkes, and that Josef Brown, last seen playing Johnny Castle in “Dirty Dancing”, was appearing as Lord Capulet.
Houselights down and the curtain rises on a beautiful scene of the two lovers encased in a giant shell, which splits apart, separating them in a lovely image which neatly encapsulates the essence of the ballet.
The action quickly moves to a teeming town-square during the Italian Renaissance. Two families with their respective entourages in tow, all wearing spectacular costumes, sweep around the square making threatening gestures towards the other. Romeo and Juliet meet for the first time sparking off an energetic sword fight.
So far, lots of spectacular movement but not a lot of real dancing.
This comes in the next scene, when Romeo arrives over the wall of the Capulet’s moon-lit garden and attracts Juliet out on to the balcony. This is a lovely setting for a tender, rapturously executed pas de deux. Juliet Burnett and Rudy Hawkes were superb as the lovers, perfectly capturing the essence of youthful innocence and awakening passion as they revel in the danger of their first forbidden meeting . They could not keep their eyes, or their hands, off each other, all the while dancing with confidence and abandon. That they were able to maintain this feeling of ecstatic love throughout the ballet, while executing demanding, often seemingly dangerous choreography, made their debut performance in these roles particularly memorable.
Following this encounter Romeo meets up with his friends under a fog-bound bridge where they swim and cavort in the water, before walking over it (?) and even more strangely, meeting a group of cyclists and some Hari Krishna.
During the interval the audience has time to ponder over the significance of these latter developments.
The Act 11 curtain rises on a gorgeous Indian market scene and after an initial “What the…?” and a check of the music to ensure that this is not “Lakme – The Ballet of the Opera”, the realisation occurs that it is probably best to abandon all logic and simply enjoy the rather Cirque du Soliel spectacle.
This exoctic setting certainly offers the opportunity for some spectacular set-pieces, although the group dances would have benefited from some tightening up on the detailing, particularly the Indian hand movements for the men, which were disturbingly erratic. .
Later scenes occur in a brown African desert, a cave with a bed made of human skulls, and of course, Juliet’s bedroom, but curiously, by the end, when the curtain inevitably comes down on the dead bodies of Romeo and Juliet, instead of being irritated by the anachronisms throughout the production, I felt both moved and exhilarated.
So why Graeme Murphy's interpretation of “Romeo and Juliet” work so well for me? In his program notes Murphy writes “Love transforms and transcends, opening a door to reveal a different world, where time bends and stretches and landscapes appear both familiar and foreign”. Got it !
Previously, during some versions of this ballet, I’ve often found myself bored watching choreographers struggle with literal interpretations of the events in the Shakespeare play about a young double-murderer who has sex with an underage girl. Why does it seem to take forever to get to the big pas de deux?
However in this version, by removing the realities, Murphy has focussed attention on the power of love, especially youthful love, and makes the journey as interesting as the destination .. that big pas de deux.
Therefore instead of worrying about what the cyclists, the Hari Krishna’s or indeed even the Indian Bazaar had to do with Shakespeare; Murphy's version of the ballet seems to be saying that Romeo and Juliet are so in love, and in a space where it doesn’t matter to them what’s going on around them, or where they are. Only their love matters to them, and if that can't exist, neither can they. I'll buy that !
If you haven’t already done so, try and see this production for yourself. There is so much to enjoy including Akira Isogawa's lovely costumes, Gerard Manions clever set designs, the inventive lighting by Damien Cooper and the imaginative projections of Jason Lam. You'll also find lots to argue about with your companions after the performance.
By the way, in case you're wondering, Josef Brown makes a fine Lord Capulet. Hope we get to see more of him in future Australian Ballet productions.
The photos accompanying this review are of Kevin Jackson and Madeleine Eastoe and artists of The Australian Ballet.
