Sim

What a wonderful, intelligent and deeply-felt debut from Beatriz tonight.

Wow what a great way to start!!

The same cast as described in imy review of the Saturday matinee. Brilliant!

I don’t think that Tybalt has to seethe for the interpretation to be believable. Simmering, repressed anger is just as dangerous as fully-expressed anger! I thought Ball’s take was fascinating and it worked for me.

Let’s hope so.... 😃

Yes, I was getting that and other little glitches too. All seems fine this morning.

Matthew is scheduled to dance Tybalt on Tuesday. 👏👏

I was standing in the Stalls Circle and had no trouble seeing his face. Maybe someone should inform Mr O’Hair (!) about the problem?! He might then suggest a quick trip to the barber before Tuesday!

There seem to have been a few glitches with the forum tonight! Thanks Lin.

I loved the matinee today. What a sublime cast. Everyone was firing on all cylinders (physically and dramatically!) and gave an ensemble performance worthy of the best. It has been a long wait to see Cesar Corrales onstage again, but if we had to do without him for most of the season, it was worth the wait to see him debut as Romeo today. His Romeo is young, passionate, sensual and everything he does is from the heart. Absolutely no hesitation to start a love affair with Juliet, even though he knows who she is from the get-go. No hesitation at all to grab the sword to avenge his best friend's death, despite what the consequences might be; he just goes for it and a pox on the consequences. He was so in love with his Juliet, like a puppy on a lead just waiting to be let go so he can run to her and be with her always...it just doesn't work out that way. His despair in the crypt scene was so sad. He was willing her so hard to go on and get up, and when he couldn't, you could feel the weight of his agony take over his whole body, and he wanted none of it. His fight with Tybalt was one of the most ferocious (and at times uncontrollable) I have ever seen. He knocked the sword out of poor Matthew Ball's hand a couple of times, and the latter had to scramble to retrieve it, but did so very well. He seemed almost surprised by the ferocity of the attack coming at him. In the last run, I wasn't as crazy about Francesca Hayward's Juliet as some other people were, but I think that had much to do with her partner, with whom she was utterly miscast. Today, no such worries. She and Corrales had great chemistry, and were totally believable as the young, star-crossed lovers. When they first encounter each other at the ball, it's as if neither of them understands what is happening to them. As love and lust slowly dawn on them, they become more and more fired up and passionate, and this will make the fall hurt much more. Unlike Romeo, we can see Juliet have brief moments of hesitation; her nurse has told her who Romeo is, and she knows deep down that nothing good can come of it. Foreboding shadows darken her lovely, expressive face a couple of times, but she throws caution to the wind and experiences that which she really wants to experience. The final scene in the tomb was so moving, from her as well as from him. I think he is the one who really broke my heart, but she contributed to that; how she crumpled over him when she discovered he was dead was just heartbreaking. He had died a bit too far away from the side of the bed for her to be able to reach his arm to pull it up and kiss his hand in her death throes, but her final, empty reach was just as moving; she couldn't even have him in death. Very sad. I loved Matthew Ball's Tybalt...it was a very different interpretation, an 'English' Tybalt, if you like. He wasn't angry and fuming and lashing out. He was subtle, simmering, sardonic, smug, sarcastic, smirking, sexy and sublime. He was much more measured than we usually see with Tybalts, and this worked as a very effective contrast to Corrales' Latin passion. This Tybalt just thought it was all a fun game at first....he smirked at the Montague boys, toyed with them like a cat with a half-dead bird, obviously considering them as pathetic little boys trying to be big men with their swords and their provocations. However, the simmering cauldron had to boil over, and the job be completed on the half-dead birds. All of a sudden, Tybalt's fury and humiliation manifested themselves through his sword. As mentioned above, this was one helluva fight. There were no regrets after killing Mercutio, and that's when I felt really angry at him. I really hope he is doing it again on Tuesday night. And speaking of Mercutio....Marcellino Sambe, wow! One of the best I have seen. Again, last time I didn't think he was that great in the role. THIS time was a completely different matter. Fabulous dancing, fun, cheeky, full of life....all of which made the waste of his death so much more poignant. A truly bravura performance. Excellent also from James Hay as Benvolio. I always feel sorry for poor Benvolio; by the end of the story, he has lost both of his best mates in the space of just a few minutes. I always wonder whatever becomes of him! But I digress....James Hay was an exuberant boy, and the trio were utterly believable as three teenage mates, roaming around Verona, having fun....until Romeo falls in love, at which point they are all doomed in one way or another. Gary Avis was his usual patrician lord, and I love the feeling I get with him that he is just fed up with dealing with all these hormonal teenagers: Paris always whining asking why Juliet doesn't like him, Juliet not paying attention to nor fulfilling his wishes, Tybalt constantly angry and making a scene at his ball, Romeo also causing problems in his house....I can almost hear him cry in despair 'will no-one rid me of these hormonal teenagers?' Christina Arestis is a very sympathetic Lady Capulet; she loves and comforts her daughter, but as a woman in those days there wasn't much she could to help Juliet with her situation as Lord Capulet's word and will are final. Well done to a very special all-round cast who gave a luscious rendering of this ballet. The fact that I have seen it so many times and yet can still be moved by it is a huge tribute to all the fantastic casts the RB has at the moment. I am in awe.

You wouldn’t have thought so, watching that Act 2 sword fight. My goodness, so ferocious. He really meant it!

Wow he was very passionate and very believable. What an incredible cast!

Matthew Ball is Tybalt at today’s matinee.

It does look a bit Star Trek!

Thanks Ivy. I look forward to reading these over the weekend.

Gorgeous as he is, this is just so wrong. Like Speedos, no-one can look good in this costume!

So according to a couple of the critics, this is a 'MeToo Medusa'. Hey, you know what, fictional females (and real ones) have been taking revenge on men for a long time before MeToo came along (sorry, my hashtag is broken). Women were empowered before three years ago! I don't think MeToo has anything to do with it; these stories have been around for thousands of years.... I guess next time Giselle is shown it will of course have to be a 'MeToo Myrtha'.

Now even more jealous!

Having read all the links today (except the FT because of the paywall), the critics are pretty unanimous.....lukewarm reviews of Medusa, brilliant reviews of WGH and Flight Pattern. For once, I agree with them!! Can anyone report on the second cast for WGH last night?

He was so brilliant. This clip makes me weep with laughter every time I watch it!

And mine. Poetic license is fine if it works.

But he wasn’t using the scarf until the end.

I agree too, but I think even a quick mention of where she studied and who helped to encourage her early artistry would have been interesting as it would have happened when she was young and suffering from the effects of her brother’s death just a few years previously. Knowing how she started studying singing and who helped her would have enhanced my understanding of this wonderful artist. Not a big deal as it is a wonderful, raw and honest documentary about an artist. A rare thing these days.

Well done Linda! 👏👏

I agree with you about Medusa, Lizbie. I loved the design and the lighting, and the singing, but the choreography didn’t do it for me and I didn’t find much clarity in the story-telling. I didn’t read the synopsis until afterwards at which point I understood it more, but for me that defeats the point. I know the story of Medusa but this version didn’t impart it to me. As always, the dancers gave their very best, especially Miss Osipova.