“Bourne’s choreographic inventiveness is well showcased, and at times delightful...But there’s something unsettling about the way the production uses mental health and abuse issues...it skirts close to exploitation, as Bourne nods to distressing topics while lobbing in visual gags and piling towards his blood-soaked ending. Depictions of grief and trauma come across as mere choreographic tricks, with no depth.”
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“ ‘Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet’ pits young people against a harsh adult world. This updated dance version shows giddy first love, blooming like a dandelion forcing itself through concrete...It’s a production that emphasises youthful energy, then sets it bouncing off prison walls.”
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“The second half barrels downhill to tragedy – but leans so hard on this trajectory that it flattens out the story...Even so, ‘Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet’ harnesses youthful ardour in a goosebumping night of dance.”
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“Unsurprisingly Bourne’s choreography is full of power and edge especially when set to the classic music of Prokofiev which has been reorchestrated by Terry Davies...’Romeo + Juliet’ is the perfect combination of classical and contemporary and Bourne’s reimagining is one not to miss.”
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"...Bourne makes the central love story feel fresh and urgent, propelled by Terry Davies’s edgy rendering of Prokofiev’s classic ballet score. From the opening image of two bloodied bodies on a mortuary slab, this certainly isn’t going to be a beautiful death."
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