Romeo and Juliet at Norwich Theatre Royal

I made my way to Norwich Theatre Royal on Wednesday 1st February 2012 to attend the Moscow City Ballet performance of Romeo and Juliet. The Company was formed in 1988 by Victor Smirnov-Golovanov who enjoys bringing his heritage of classical ballet in the Moscow style to audiences all over the world.

Sergei Prokofiev's classic ballet was brought to Norwich Theatre in style with Liliya Orekhova as Juliet and Daniil Orlov as Romeo. The music was played by the Moscow City Ballet Orchestra conducted by Igor Savruk.

The ballet begins with a struggle between The Lords Montague and Capulet. Wearing a disguise, Romeo Montague crashes a party at the Capulet house, where he meets Juliet Capulet and falls in love. Hoping to finally put an end to the family feud, Friar Laurence secretly marries the couple. But the feuding continues. Tybalt kills Romeo's friend Mercutio and after Romeo avenges Mercutio's death by killing Tybalt he is sent into exile.

Friar Laurence devises a plan to help Juliet. She is to drink a sleeping potion to make her appear dead. After her family bury her Romeo will rescue her from her tomb and take her away. They will then live happily ever after. Romeo returns home on hearing the news of Juliet desperately grieving. He never received the message from Friar Laurence and believing that Juliet is really dead he drinks poison. Juliet awakes and sees that Romeo is dead and stabs herself.

This was a powerful performance from the Moscow City Ballet full of beauty with Liliya Orekhova as Juliet being the star of the night. Everyone in attendance at Norwich Theatre Royal must have been enchanted by her and thrilled by Sergei Prokofiev's magical ballet. The music from the Moscow City Ballet Orchestra was splendid and uplifting and truly made this a night to remember.