By Jill Sykes
ROMEO AND JULIET, Joan Sutherland Theatre, December 1-21
★★★★½
Reviewed by Jill Sykes
John Cranko’s version of Romeo and Juliet is one of the great 20th century ballets, and the Australian Ballet’s current production does it proud.
The theatricality that has too often evaded the company in story ballets was there in force on opening night. Maybe the guest repetiteur and stager, Yseult Lendvai, an expert Cranko practitioner, made that difference. But credits all round to the AB staff and performers: may they maintain this achievement for ever.
Sharni Spencer and Callum Linnane were the doomed lovers, bringing the joy of emotional discovery to Cranko’s glorious choreography. It is full of ecstatic high lifts that are heightened dramatically by breathless pauses. These two dancers captured the urgency of young love beautifully as they hurtled to their tragic and unnecessary end.
Around them, we saw the loving and prattling nurse, perfectly played by Olga Tamara; the cheeky Mercutio inhabited by Brett Chynoweth in one of the best performances of the role I have seen since the AB first presented this work in 1974; the cold killer Tybalt played to the hilt by Adam Bull.
But the key to the success of this production is probably the depiction of the “minor” characters that people the stage with such vivid colour, from the town girls easy with their kisses to the grand dancers at the noble ball. This brings important vitality to the less dramatic parts of the ballet in Act II, and puts the enmity between the Capulets and the Montagues into perspective.
There were a couple of scary fumbles by Linnane early on – nerves perhaps? – but he recovered to deliver a fine performance where it mattered most.
Prokofiev’s marvellously expressive music was given full value nearly all the time by the Opera Australia Orchestra, conducted by Nicolette Fraillon, with a few moments when an odd sound intruded.
But these were minor blemishes that are unlikely to be repeated as the season goes on for this memorable production of an exceptional work in the AB repertoire.
It is a particular pleasure to comment on such a good performance as this is my last review for The Sydney Morning Herald. I can hardly believe I have been reviewing for this masthead for 50 years, and for five years in London before that. I can’t imagine how many performances this might be. How lucky am I? Thank you dancers, choreographers, directors, all the creatives involved, and of course, readers. Without you, reviewers would not exist.
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