Birmingham Royal Ballet's 'Romeo and Juliet'

I’ve always had a soft spot for Birmingham Royal Ballet. Their versions of The Nutcracker and Still Life at the Penguin Café on VHS were watched repeatedly by me growing up and so I grew to love them from a distance. My mum then started to take me to see them perform live and to this day, I look forward to seeing their posters plastered all over the tube, reminding me to make sure I catch a show. The company were performing at Sadler’s Wells recently and brought to the stage a mixed bill and their version of Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet. The latter is what I went to see. I have grown up watching the Royal Ballet’s version of MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet so it felt quite unusual seeing a different company work their magic over it. In this production, I found that I was always pretty aware that I was watching a performance on stage. It’s a bit of a MacMillan no-no, to make it seem like ballet and not real life. Take Juliet’s variation, for example, in the party scene. The guests behind her stopped to watch rather than acting and conversing as if at a real party - something that would have been intended and encouraged by MacMillan. It felt more like the set up for Sleeping Beauty which was a shame as it took away from those realistic aspects that make MacMillan’s work so thrilling. The naturalistic and believable elements of the ballet came from the main characters, but a convincing performance of Romeo and Juliet asks that every single dancer on stage has their own story and is conveying it throughout the show. For example, when Lady Capulet walks on stage and looks directly at the audience, it doesn’t seem to fit with the naturalism that is normally such a big part of a MacMillan ballet. These stylised moments make the production seem a bit unfamiliar to someone like me who knows it inside out, but having said all of that, this is not to say that I wasn’t swept up by the characterisation of each role. Birmingham Royal Ballet is a strong company and they have some of the finest dancers in the UK. I felt that watching them dance a MacMillan ballet, which I haven’t seen them do for years, really showed off their capabilities and I was impressed to see such depth in many of their interpretations of the characters.

Tzu-Chao Chou as Mercutio, Cesar Morales as Romeo, Brandon Lawrence as Benvolio and Ruth Brill as The Nurse

I love this ballet and, although it felt strange to watch it performed on a smaller stage at Sadler’s Wells, in a way it felt more personal because the action was taking place at arm’s length. I always wish that English National Ballet would perform more of their classic ballets at Sadler’s Wells rather than The Coliseum, because it feels more intimate. I wonder whether the dancers feel the same way though. There were moments during the performance where the dancers seemed slightly limited in what they could do on the stage; most notably I saw Brandon Lawrence, who danced Benvolio, look a little pushed for space. Lawrence has endlessly long legs and belongs on a huge stage as you want to see everything he can do. His jumps surprise me every time, the height in them for such a tall dancer is so unique. He made a wonderful Benvolio - supportive and caring over his friends and he showed the vulnerability and naivety of the character very well. I would have liked to have seen him as Romeo but hopefully he can have a London debut of that next time.

Cesar Morales as Romeo and Momoko Hirata as Juliet

I’d never seen Cesar Morales dance before and found him to be a wonderful Romeo. His dancing was of such quality, fully controlled in every step but always passionate and languid in the way he moved his body. He isn’t the tallest of dancers, and normally I like my Romeos to be tall, but in this instance, it didn’t matter at all, especially as Momoko Hirata, who danced Juliet, is so petite. I liked how Morales never broke from his character, which I think could be easy to do in this production at times, due to those stylised elements that have been introduced. When he first meets Juliet, he is passionate and deeply in love and when it starts to fall apart, he convincingly shows the struggle and his sadness. He also partnered well and as he dragged and threw Juliet’s “dead” body in the final scenes, it never looked like work. I think Morales is a fine Romeo and I think he is well suited to dance MacMillan’s choreography. I feel the same way about Momoko Hirata, whose passion and intensity defined her as one of Birmingham Royal Ballet’s great Juliets. She perfectly conveyed Juliet’s journey from innocent child to burdened woman. Her introductory scenes were graceful and light and she danced with so much purity in every step. In the final act, during the whole poison scenario, she was convincingly traumatised and visibly showed the mental confusion she faced because of her predicament. It was pretty heavy and not what I was expecting from her. We are fortunate to boast so many wonderful ballet dancers in this country but to find those who are also equal in dramatic capability and can act to a convincing standard is quite rare but here it is in abundance at Birmingham Royal Ballet.

Cesar Morales as Romeo and Momoko Hirata as Juliet

I must also mention some of the other highlights in this cast. Ruth Brill made a fine Nurse and cleverly balanced comedy with sincerity. In the lighter moments of the narrative you will likely find the Nurse on stage and in those moments, Brill provided a warmth that helped to convey her closeness with Juliet. What I liked a lot about Brill’s portrayal is that she clearly showed the development of the character. Her Nurse starts off as a bumbling comical figure, who later realises whilst Romeo and Juliet are getting married that this might not be the best idea. Upon finding Juliet’s body, she is completely distraught, thus showing us that this funny lady no longer has much to smile about. It’s rare to see such depth in a supporting role so hats off to Brill for bringing something out of the character. Tzu-Chao Chou was a fabulous Mercutio - cheeky, confident and strong. His dancing was fearless and technically sublime, whilst his interpretation of the character was absolutely spot on. He seemed to revel in the role and was enjoying every minute. Well, that is until he was fatally stabbed by Tybalt. Rory Mackay was a dark and brooding Tybalt. He too added a lot of depth to the character and I liked how he seemed quite vulnerable during his flirting with Rosaline before they entered the party. He seemed like a boy in love rather than a brutal force and I liked seeing those layers. Too often we see two dimensional portrayals of bad characters, not just in dance but also in film and television. It’s pretty easy to put a frown on and act ‘bad’ but I think there’s a lot more to it. For Mackay to show that actually Tybalt isn’t pure evil, he’s instead complicated and confusing, was actually much more terrifying in a way.

Cesar Morales as Romeo and Momoko Hirata as Juliet

When I studied Romeo and Juliet at school we were asked whose fault it was that the star crossed lovers died. After much discussion it was clear that you could pin point the blame on every other character in some way or another thus making them all also vulnerable in a strange way. The complex nature of the plot means that the portrayals of the characters must also be thoughtful and profound, which is what I’m sure MacMillan was after when creating the ballet. To see this depth of characterisation and interpretation working so clearly and convincingly at Birmingham Royal Ballet is all you could really ask for.

All photos copyright of Bill Cooper

*Thank you to Emma Goodacre and Birmingham Royal Ballet