Romeo and Juliet

Derived from Shakespearean play, Romeo and Juliet, Natalie Weirs production of R&J tells the tale of two star-crossed lovers. Weirs raw and expressive choreography depicts the heart-rending emotions of love and tragedy as she takes the audience on a journey through three different eras. The contrasting, filmic vignettes were cleverly chosen to help portray the classic storyline being based in Fortitude Valley, during the Renaissance and in the 1950s suburban bliss. Further supporting this performance, the set, music, lighting, costuming and changing choreography largely aid in the portrayal of dominating themes. Beautifully constructed by Natalie Weir, R&J cuts to the quintessence of what is genuine, human and inevitable.

Based upon the emotion 'Passion', Act One introduces the audience to the grungy club scene of Fortitude Valley. This act depicts tragedy in young love and the affects of a toxic love triangle. The characters are dangerous, young and riveted by passion, which is supported by the amazing choreography of Natalie Weir. To portray this young love elicited by appeal, Weir's choreography is intimate and adjacent to portray the young, foolish emotions between the performers. Through large lifts and connected, rigged movements the dominant theme of the act is cleverly represented. Illustrating fate, the third performer within this routine acts as the inevitability of the end much like the original play. Through slow deeps lunges and high releases, fate makes his way between the star-crossed lovers in order to destroy the contrived love of Romeo and Juliet. Costumes also largely aid in the portrayal of this modernised storyline, as visual aids are immensely significant to the audience. Wearing a red dress, Juliet's costume illustrates the dangerous love. Being shorter in the length the dress supports and reinforces the twenty-first century ideas of the piece. Romeo's costume consists of an open white shirt and casual pants of which parallels with society's fashion today. Wearing black to portray darkness and depravity, fates costume remains modernized, wearing an open blazer and jeans. Despite being subtle, the choice of costumes does not distract from the choreographic intention.

Music, lighting and setting largely contribute to this amazing performance as it aids in the conveyance of the theme passion. Set in the dark streets of Fortitude Valley, dim lighting is deliberately utilised to set the scene of the star-crossed lovers in modern society. Dark blue lighting is most commonly employed as fate intervenes; to represent sadness and the inevitable death that will end the characters love. Very upbeat and fast paced orchestra created music has been chosen in this production to create the scene of a nightclub, without drawing too far from the classic Shakespearean tale. Throughout the first act, large white boxes are placed on stage, rendering a busy city and large buildings. Throughout the act one of the boxes is used to resemble a table, cleverly implicated by Weir to visually aid the performance through simplicity. These amalgamations of music, lighting and setting extremely support the theme of romance throughout this act, making for a very enjoyable piece.

Set in fair Verona, Act Two is known to most closely connect to the true story of Romeo and Juliet as it tells the tale of innocent love. If that thy bent of love be honourable, thy purpose marriage, send me word to-morrow. In the midst of planning their wedding, fate intervenes between the romantics, destroying their love on earth, yet it does not cease the love between them, depicting the theme of "Romance". Contrasting Act One, the choreography within this act is innocent and fluent. Natalie Weir's choreography is filled by purity, allowing the two lovers to dance together naïvely and romantically as one. Similar to the previous performance, the same colour scheme is used for costuming to recognize love, tragedy, evil and hope. Although Juliet's dress remains red, the dress lengthens for during the Renaissance it was unlikely for women to wear revealing clothing. In this act, Romeo is seen wearing no shirt; this is done to portray his rebellious persona, as in the original tale when he murders Tybalt. Fate once again wears the colour black to identify the cataclysmic destiny planned for the lovers, for Fate's heart