Rasta Thomas' Romeo and Juliet: Peacock Theatre 28.03.15

As a lover of any art form that crosses over, I was excited to see how Rasta Thomas' Romeo and Juliet would fare, and was hoping that it wasn't going to be style over substance. It wasn't.

Firstly, I enjoyed the casting of Romeo and Juliet, the dark and light coming together literally, and the reflection of our diverse society was great. On seeing Juliet's gentle entrance, I had a feeling that she would pack more of a punch in some of her later dances.

I'm also a big fan of projections, and annoyingly overuse the word 'projection' far more than anyone should in their daily vocabulary (sorry friends!). I started off by using projections in school shows as a way of modernising productions, but also, it hugely resolved the issue of moving a heavy cumbersome set on and off stage. I have actually come to appreciate clever minimal set pieces more as of late, but I welcomed seeing the use of projections, and it added to the 'musicvideoness' of the whole production.

The paparazzi section before the ball was humorous and gave us a taste of what was to come. It also gave us a chance to laugh at the characters a little, on seeing Mercutio using bum jiggling tactics to be the centre of attention. He was great to watch throughout the performance and was full of energy.

Usher's 'Without You' was the first lifter for me, marking the moment after Romeo and Juliet first meet at the ball. It was in this dance that there was much needed unison which added strength and joy to the event.

Romeo's dance with his friends at the beginning to 'Forever Young' actually made my heart pang a little as they watched the revolving ferris wheel and danced their 'youthful' steps of merriment. It harked back to those more carefree days when all you had to worry about was the colour of your backpack, the pictures in your DT folder and your Year 11 crush. It had a 'Sandlot' feel about it, and certainly took the me back to that feeling of newness and first love.

Other familiar songs such as 'Every Breath You Take', 'Unchained Melody', 'Teenage Dream' and 'Party Rockers' featured throughout the show and were all choreographed superbly. In having the mix of classical and modern, it was clear that it wasn't a tokenistic choice for the popularity vote, but it meant that you could easy connect the right tone immediately with a certain part of the story. After all, Shakespeare wrote his plays for everyone and so this production really does have something for everyone.

I was more than delighted to hear Sade's 'Kissing you' used in the Baz Luhrmann film during the famous fish tank scene where Romeo and Juliet fall in love. My eyes even welled up as the dancers created a beautiful tangle, building up at the right moments then revealing the close love that the characters shared for one another.

A final mention must go out to the Friar's dance, which I felt was a hard dance to portray with the usual understanding of the Friar being an older, larger friendly dumpling of a man. However the dance linked in well with the dark lead up to Romeo and Juliet's death, with high tempo music and a 'solid' feel, clean choreography and excellent mood lighting.

So yes, it comes to the final thought! Well, three words that come to mind when I think about this production are SWEET, CHARMING and FUN!

This production was a great example of clear characterisation and music choices in order for the audience to connect to ballet in a way that I know some don't when paying a small fortune to go and see other productions.

It certainly raised some emotions in me that haven't popped up for a little while, so for that I am always grateful.