12 minute read
Romeo and Juliet 1
INSIGHT: LLINOS OWEN
The Royal Ballet Sinfonia’s Bassoonist tells us why Romeo and Juliet is her favourite
Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet is my absolute favourite ballet to play – it’s an absolute joy to come to work and play this wonderful music. The first time I got to play some of it was performing the Balcony Scene at one of our Music and Dance concerts at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall. I always enjoy the Music and Dance concerts, since the orchestra perform on stage so we actually get to see the dancing for a change (only in our bars’ rest obviously)! Watching the breathtaking dancing, the beautiful acting combined with the exquisite music, immediately transported me back to being a teenager falling in love for the first time, and having that wonderful feeling of ‘it’s possible that no one has ever been this in love before!’
There’s not a note wasted in this work of genius by Prokofiev, and it’s great to be back to a full-strength orchestra in the pit; I’ve missed the joy and richness of two bassoons and a contrabassoon! As well as being my favourite ballet score, this is also the first ballet that I got a ‘full house’ for, having played the contra part, as well as 1st and 2nd bassoon parts.
The contrabassoon part is one of the best in the repertoire – providing depth and colour as well as solos with the tuba and bass clarinet, such as the ‘Poison Theme’. It’s such an emotionally charged score, and so well balanced with moments of lightness and humour. I tend to well up in Act I when the flutes quietly play one of Juliet’s themes as she innocently dances in her bedroom. As an audience, we know the tragedy that will be unfolding when we hear this theme again in Act III, reorchestrated and painfully reharmonised to reflect the pathos. In fact, there’s often a box of tissues making its way around the orchestra during this ballet, not least at the ending. As Amos Miller our Principal Trombone so rightly described the final notes – this ballet ends with ‘the saddest C major chord in history’.
LEAP AMBASSADORS
Applications are open for the 21/22 cohort!
The LEAP Ambassadors programme offers a unique opportunity for young people aged from 16 to 25 to investigate behind-the-scenes, experience practical projects, develop new skills, meet new people and become an integral part to a vibrant arts organisation.
Once selected, Ambassadors participate in group training sessions, which offer insight into the various departments and job roles available in a large arts organisation. These include Project Management, Company Management, Brand, Marketing & Communications, Technical Production and much more! Adding further value, Ambassadors receive a personalised training programme tailored to their interests, where they have the chance to shadow a member of staff and gain invaluable ‘hands on’ experience.
Following a successful pilot year in 19/20 and a year break due to the pandemic, we’re delighted to be opening the doors to this programme again. This year’s programme will take place from November 2021 to July 2022, and culminate with a sharing of the Ambassadors’ achievements and the LEAP Ambassadors Celebration on Friday 8 July 2022 in the Patrick Studio, Birmingham Hippodrome.
TO APPLY
Full details, including an application form, can be found at
www.brb.org.uk/get-involved/ambassadors The deadline for applications is Friday 22 October 2021.
Please note this programme is not suited to people working professionally in the arts.
WANT TO FIND OUT MORE?
If you have any queries about applications or would like to informally ask for more details about the programme, please contact Hannah MacGregor on 0121 245 3534 or email hannahmacgregor@brb.org.uk
Share the stage with
Carlos Curates: R&J Reimagined
Romeo + Juliet Radio and Juliet
Mayowa Ogunnaike as Juliet and Subhash Viman Gorania as Romeo. © Brian Slater.
Romeo + Juliet
Director and Choreographer Rosie Kay Producer James Preston Composer Annie Mahtani after Hector Berlioz Arranger Robin Wallington Dramaturg Ben Payne Designer Louis Price Lighting Designer Mike Gunning Technical Manager Chris Heigham Costumier Sasha Keir
Royal Ballet Sinfonia Guest Conductor Martin Georgiev Original cast of dancer-choreographers Mayowa Ogunnaike, Subhash Viman Gorania, David Devyne, Dan Baines, Deepraj Singh, Patrick Webster, Iona McGuire, Harry Ondrak-Wright & Ayesha Fazal
Artistic Advisors Dylan Duffus, Azita Zohhadi, Shanelle Clemenson, Aakash Odedra and Sonia Sabri.
THE STORY
Act 1 – Prologue in the Park
The M’s – leader Merc, Ben and Rosa – recruit Romeo as a member. The C’s – leader Ty, Angel (a nurse), Paris and self-serving LJ – move in to protect their turf. Ty’s sister Juliet arrives flushed with exam success and we see that Paris’s crush on her is unrequited. LJ has a vision, a portent of death involving Romeo and Juliet. The gangs fight and though the C’s have the upper-hand, Merc succeeds in winding up Ty. Rosa welcomes Romeo into the M’s but for her it’s platonic. Romeo is left feeling wistful until Merc and Ben initiate him with knife cuts. Meanwhile, against a backdrop of drug deals, we learn that Rosa and Ty have a secret relationship, that Angel and Paris are a dysfunctional couple and that Juliet longs for an exciting future, away from this city.
Act 2 – The Party
Ty hosts a C’s rave, the M’s sneak in but for one wonderful night there is no conflict. As the party gets wilder, Juliet connects with Romeo. Guests leave worse for wear and LJ passes out.
Act 3 – The Love Duet
Romeo and Juliet fall in love - mind, heart and body.
The Aftermath
LJ witnesses the duet and jumps to the wrong conclusion. He tells Paris who embellishes further, Ty vows to destroy the M’s and the gangs clash. Juliet discovers Ty and Merc both dead, she decides to run away with Romeo but Paris threatens to stab her if she elopes. Romeo is banished and flees the police.
Act 4 – The Bedroom
With Ty gone, Paris takes Juliet hostage and LJ is left conflicted. Angel brings Juliet a drug that will make her appear dead so that she can escape and go to Romeo. Angel persuades Paris to track down Romeo leaving Juliet alone to take the dangerous pill.
Act 5 – The Riot
Rumours breed unrest and things get out of hand in the streets. As Juliet is taken to hospital, we see Ty and Merc haunting her hallucinations.
Act 6 – The Morgue
A distraught Paris guards the ‘body’ of Juliet. When Romeo appears, Paris tries to stab him but is accidentally killed. Romeo sees Juliet ‘dead’ and is heartbroken, he stabs himself just as the pill wears off and Juliet awakes. Delirious at first, she sees Romeo and is heartbroken, she stabs herself and they have one brief moment together before both die.
Act 7 – Epilogue
The grieving survivors return to the park to pay their respects at a makeshift shrine. As they remember slain family and friends, Ben decides to relinquish the knife and stop the cycle of killing.
THE CAST
The C’s
Juliet: Mayowa Ogunnaike Tybalt: David Devyne Paris: Dan Baines Angel: Iona McGuire LJ: Harry Ondrak-Wright
The M’s
Romeo: Subhash Viman Gorania Merc: Deepraj Singh Ben: Patrick Ross Webster Rosa: Ayesha Fazal
A NEW ROMEO AND JULIET
Rosie Kay, choreographer of Romeo + Juliet in conversation with Diane Parkes
Shakespeare’s classic tale of thwarted love Romeo and Juliet is brought up to date in a new production. Created by city-based choreographer Rosie Kay, the production explores a range of contemporary issues including diversity, race, sexual equality, gang culture, knife crime and forbidden love.
But its roots are very much in Shakespeare’s famous story. ‘I wanted to tackle one of the big classics in dance and came to Romeo and Juliet as it’s both the play and the ballet I love the most,’ says Rosie, artistic director of Rosie Kay Dance Company. ‘I was lucky enough to have a very good teacher at school and we studied Romeo and Juliet and I really understood and enjoyed it. This was about the same time I fell in love for the first time, I was about 15, and you suddenly wake up to so many new emotions.’ Rosie found her inspiration for a new Romeo and Juliet on the streets of Birmingham. ‘I was trying to figure out how to make it relevant to today and, a few years ago, when my son Gabriel was a toddler, I was living in Ladywood and my nearest play park was in the centre of Newtown. When you are a mum with a toddler you are a bit invisible and so I was able to watch the people around me.
‘You see how people watch each other and there is tension in the air, people are checking each other out. Young people are flirting so there are love affairs but also a dynamic in the atmosphere where you feel that if they crossed lines it could be really problematic.’
Rosie wanted a diverse cast for Romeo and Juliet to reflect the city and began by exploring South Asian dance, drawing on the experience of
Juliet’s Dream: David Devyne, Mayowa Ogunnaike and Deepraj Singh. © Brian Slater.
Merc’s Death. © Brian Slater.
choreographers including Sonia Sabri and Aakash Odedra, who, like Rosie, are associate artists of Birmingham Hippodrome.
As part of her research, Rosie was invited to Sparkbrook’s Nelson Mandela School by head teacher Azita Zohhadi where she discussed the play and its issues with nine- and ten-year-old pupils.
‘We were exploring things around gangs and identity, violence and threats of violence, equality and relationships, consent and balance between the sexes. At first I wondered if the children were too young for these themes but Azita was very clear that if we don’t talk about these things at primary school age it’s too late by the time they go to secondary school.’
Rosie also wanted to see how these issues impacted on older children and young adults so spent time on the beat with West Midlands Police, first visiting different parts of the city and then joining officers for a week in Ladywood. Here she talked to families whose children had been groomed by gangs, with some now involved in selling drugs and others having suffered gang violence and knife crime.
Following the research, Rosie created a storyline and began work on the characters but she was also keen for the dancers to help create their roles.
‘I wanted the dancers to recognise themselves in the role and, in the audition process, we had long chats about their thoughts for the story and the characters. So, right from the very beginning, I was asking them to fill out these characters with their own life experience.’
‘The dancers were very much cochoreographers, they really made it with me. They had such a range of dance skills from South Asian, street, contemporary, hip hop – I’m not an expert in these but I know what I want and how to get the best out of people. This show is about young people, different ethnicities, gang violence, things that are very modern and citybased and I didn’t want any of this to come from the wrong perspective so it’s been essential to have the collaborative approach. This piece has all the themes you can trace throughout my work like love, sex, violence, group dynamics, bullying and pressure but it also has so much input from the research and the dancers.’
The show is 75 minutes long and set to a soundtrack by Birmingham-based composer Annie Mahtani which blends her electroacoustic music with Berlioz’s dramatic symphony Roméo et Juliette.
Never one to shy away from controversial subjects, Rosie’s past works have included explorations of the physical and psychological effects of war, media brainwashing and women’s sexuality and it was important that
Iona McGuire as Angel. © Brian Slater.
this Romeo + Juliet also tackle difficult issues head on.
‘I want dance to blow people’s minds, for them to fall in love with dance and trust it’s an amazing theatrical experience with a relevance to the here and now.
‘The research for this show has shown us that we need to create a society where young people feel valued and listened to. I think that’s the moral of the story - adults need to take responsibility for young people. It’s about providing the things that really excite young people like youth clubs, activities and opportunities for things like dance because without these you will get a youth that turns in on itself.’
Mayowa Ogunnaike takes the part of Juliet and the dancer from London was keen to create a Juliet for today. ‘My Juliet is really strong-minded,’ she says. ‘With her and Romeo there’s more of equality in terms of power dynamics. She’s a dreamer and adventurous, an optimist but she also has this bit of an edge about her. There’s a naivety about her because she’s young but she’s also seen things which keep her grounded. She has a lot of hopes, desires and goals she’s committed to.
‘I feel really connected to her character. In the research and development Rosie gave us all kinds of questions like how old our characters are, their families, what interests they have, what they want in the future, their fears and desires and we spent a lot of time talking about who that character was. There’s a lot that the audience won’t even see in the show but it makes the
