Review – Romeo & Juliet – English National Ballet at the Empire Theatre, Liverpool

Making a hugely welcome return to Liverpool this week are English National Ballet, who commence a brief tour of their prized production of Romeo and Juliet here prior to its 50th anniversary run at the London Coliseum in January.

Rudolf Nureyev conceived and choreographed this version of the ballet in 1977 (in celebration of Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee) and this is the first time it has been restaged in 15 years.

Prokofiev’s score has proven notoriously difficult to choreograph since its premiere in 1938, and Nureyev’s version arguably does the best job of telling Shakespeare’s story while steering a course through the challenging music and highlighting the drama and passion.

The curtain rises on a group of sinister ghoul-like figures throwing dice. Death haunts this production from the outset and these eerie harbingers are followed by a cart load of plague victims hauled across the stage – this vision of Verona calls to mind the Italy of Visconti’s Death in Venice.

But thoughts of natural death are soon swept aside by the arrival of the young firebrands from the rival Montague and Capulet families, and here we meet Benvolio, Tybalt and Mercutio for the first time, performed on Thursday evening by Lorenzo Trossello, James Streeter and Gustavo Carvalho. It’s easy to see from Nureyev’s lively and youthful choreography here what attracted Jerome Robbins to adapt the tale into West Side Story.

Once the Prince of Verona calms the street brawl down we are transported to the Capulet household, where we find Juliet (Emma Hawes) being introduced to Paris (Skyler Martin) who her parents intend her to marry.

Romeo, meanwhile (Aitor Arrieta) is in disguise and in pursuit of Rosaline when he spies Juliet. His eye is turned, and we know that a great many people’s fates are sealed.

Prokofiev’s score carries us through successive scenes with its sumptuous and colourful music that is played here by ENB’s excellent orchestra, under the direction of Maria Seletskaja. It is worth highlighting the difference that a full, live orchestra makes to a ballet of this period, and we are to be thankful that ENB are one of a shrinking number of companies still touring with a full orchestra (almost 70 players for this production) and long may this continue.

Once we have seen the titular lovers become simultaneously besotted and star-crossed, we head into Act II in which things become more complicated and begin to unravel. A clandestine marriage is quickly followed by a brawl in which Tybalt is despatched after accidentally killing Romeo’s friend Mercutio. This is not going to end well.

Act III contains some of the cleverest flash-forward work in the staging, with the Friars offering her the rather risky solution of a sleeping draught while the intended outcome is acted out in the background. Later, in another clever touch in this version, the ghosts of Tybalt and Mercutio appear in a dual temptation offering her the options of the potion or a dagger. The remaining scenes play out at a pace, as we accelerate towards the tragic conclusion, and as the two rival families find reconciliation in shared sorrow, the ghostly dice-players return to bring the curtain down with an air of menace.

Daniel Kraus, Manuel Legris, Elizabeth Maurin and Clotilde Vayer have restaged Nureyev’s vision with great style and precision, bringing equal power to the solos and duets and the huge crowd and fight scenes. Ezio Frigero’s set offers multiple layers of depth for the staging and movement, and Tharon Musser elevates it all with lighting that transports us from murky backstreets to glittering ballrooms.

The soloists and company are of a uniformly high standard across the board, highlighting that one of the glories of this production is its ensemble work and its vivid storytelling.

Romeo and Juliet is at Liverpool Empire untilSaturday 17th, and audiences should note the early start times of 2pm for matinees and 7pm for evenings.

The company takes the production to the Palace in Manchester next week, and then Southampton’s Mayflower in December, before opening at the London Coliseum in January.

Star rating: 5 stars

Production photography by Laurent Liotardo

This review was written for publication by Good News Liverpool