As part of the 2024 Guangzhou Art Season, British choreographer Matthew Bourne’s version of Romeo and Juliet has come to Guangzhou and will be staged at the Guangzhou Opera House from July 5 to 7.
Poster of Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet (Guangzhou Opera House)
On the evening of July 2, three dancers from the cast, namely Rory Macleod as Romeo, Bryony Pennington as Juliet, and Alan Vincent as Senator Montague (Romeo’s father), greeted audiences in Guangzhou with a fan meeting, sharing their experience of being part of the contemporary interpretation of Shakespeare’s classical love tragedy.
The meeting with fans of Romeo and Juliet at Guangzhou Opera House
"This version of Romeo and Juliet is very different from any other because it deals with a lot of current themes that are not explored in other versions. The dance movement is not traditional classical ballet but more of a contemporary ballet," Rory Macleod, the dancer playing Romeo, said in an interview with GDToday.
From left to right: Alan Vincent, Bryony Pennington, and Rory Macleod
Although the love story between Romeo and Juliet has been repeatedly told by artists and creative talents around the world in plays, films, and musicals, Matthew Bourne managed to reinvent it as he turned the city of Verona, Italy into the Verona Institute, a kind of cross between a reform school and a mental institute. The central conflict leading to the tragedy of the star-crossed couple is no longer that between two feuding families but passionate young people longing for love versus adult authority.
When it premiered in 2019, Romeo and Juliet garnered universal critical acclaim. The Stage praised it as "a seismic YOUTHQUAKE, a Romeo and Juliet for the millennial generation. Bold, fresh, and right on the money." Daily Telegraph described it as "electrifying and one of Bourne's smartest, sexiest, most stirring shows ever."
If you go:
Time: 7:30 pm on July 5, 2024 (Fri.); 2:30 pm and 7:30 pm on July 6-7, 2024 (Sat-Sun.)
Venue: Opera Hall, Guangzhou Opera House
Price: RMB 80 180 280 380 480 580 680
Duration: 110 minutes (with 20 minutes intermission)
*Each ticket can only be used by one person. No children below 1.2m will be admitted. Suitable for 16+.
Reporter | Chen Siyuan
Editor | Nan, James
Photos | Guangzhou Opera House
Chen Ziqian also contributed to this report.
