A successful start

“Romeo and Juliet” kicks off the new season

Franklin Jones da Silva Santos shines as the passionate "Romeo", Elizabeth Shupe impresses as the courageous "Juliet".

(Bild: Birgit Gufler)

The classic "Romeo and Juliet" celebrated its premiere last Friday in the main auditorium of the Tiroler Landestheater in Innsbruck. It was undoubtedly a successful start to the new season!

With "Romeo and Juliet", William Shakespeare created a tragedy with timeless themes in 1595: Love in all its forms, feuding families or groups, family power intrigues or even decades-long conflicts.

The story of two lovers from Verona, who belong to opposing families and die by suicide under unfortunate circumstances, is told over four acts in around 2½ hours (including an intermission). The story ballet was first performed in Brno in 1938. Marcel Leemann, Stefan Späti and their entire team have succeeded wonderfully in refreshing the original with some modern components.

Strong emotions, music and dance
Together with the Tiroler Symphonieorchester Innsbruck, strong emotions such as sadness, anger or despair, but also love and lightness were conveyed in a fabulous symbiosis of Sergei S. Prokofiev's powerful, dramatic music and sophisticated and complex dance.

Classical ballet with a modern twist
Musically, the "Dance of the Knights", among others, will give you goosebumps. The colorful costumes by Louise Flanagan captivate with originality and a pinch of youthful zeitgeist - modern crop tops, glittering sequins and jogging suits meet Renaissance elements such as puffed sleeves and ruffs. The stage design by Ayşe Gülsüm Özel is a sophisticated mix of big city flair and Italian piazza. The fast-paced choreography inspires with plenty of power and energy, dynamic lifting figures, acrobatics, passion and tragedy. The romantic passages in particular - such as the secret wedding - are particularly light, tender and lively.

As the company wanted to avoid any use of weapons, the fights are only fought using body language. Alongside Franklin Jones da Silva Santos (Romeo) and Elizabeth Shupe (Juliet), Olivia Swintek also delivers an enchanting performance as the warm and loving Nurse.

However, the entire dance ensemble and all those involved are to be congratulated on this outstanding performance!