Matthew Bourne’s Romeo & Juliet – Bradford Alhambra
This story of two star crossed lovers has been performed in every medium imaginable, so it was inevitable that our greatest choreographer Matthew Bourne would at some stage be lured by Sergei Prokofiev’s iconic ballet score.
Be warned this is far from a straight scene by scene version of the Bard’s masterpiece, and Bourne’s interpretation sets this ageless tragedy in the near future. Romeo and Juliet are inmates in the Verona Institute, which might be a closed psychiatric unit for troubled teenagers, or a young offenders institute. That’s up to you, but it has echoes of The Handmaid’s Tale, although the battle between the inmates and the establishment that acts as a surrogate for Shakespeare’s familial conflict is more reminiscent of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.
Into this antise...
