Arthur Brooke
Standing on the shoulders of giants
Who hasn’t heard of Romeo and Juliet?
But did you know that Shakespeare took his inspiration from a 1562 poem The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet by Arthur Brooke? Or that Brooke borrowed the idea from a 1554 novella by Matteo Bondello? And, of course, writers and film makers and musical directors et al have been refashioning the tale ever since. Because at heart the story has universal and timeless appeal – young love fighting against the odds.
Director and choreographer Sir Matthew Bourne has given this timeless tale yet another twist by setting it in an institution – ?borstal ?prison ?psychiatric hospital ?scene of some brutal social experimentation – aptly named the Verona Institute, paying homage to the setting for Shakespeare’s play. This new production uses a simple but fabulous setting throughout, at once both the famous balcony and evoking the stark metal scaffolding and locked gates so reminiscent of prison. I was privileged to watch it in the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh on Saturday. Photography is not allowed but here’s the official trailer to give you a glimpse (click on).
Many of the classic characters are represented in some way – brilliantly stiff, ambitious pushy Montague parents; a delightfully open-minded slightly scatty minister of religion; an unscrupulous cruel bully – but the focus is on the young people rigidly separated by gender and only allowed to meet under very controlled conditions. 
The choreography is stunningly beautiful and athletic, yet manages to convey very dark issues such as mental disturbance, physical and sexual abuse, bullying, knife crime. And of course the ending is tragic and bloody. As Bourne himself puts it: There’s nothing balletically twee about it!’ Indeed there isn’t. Some people actually walked out, but I was lost in admiration for the clever and haunting refashioning of this classic tale. Impeccable performances, full of grace and emotion. Deeply thought-provoking issues. Raw passion – that between Romeo and Juliet is a far cry from the usual chaste kiss of classic ballet, and apparently this cast have created the longest ever continuous kiss in dance history!
Highly recommended.