Review
Christopher Coleman

Romeo and Juliet
Hong Kong Ballet
Jan 25-26, Tsuen Wan Town Hall Auditorium
February 1-2 (7:30), Feb. 3 2:30
Ko Shan Theatre

Artistic director Stephen Jefferies has brought to the Hong Kong Ballet a production that plays to the company's strengths and local audiences' tastes. Choreographer Bengt Jörgen's vision values drama over dance and to emphasize the storyline he has cut about an hour from Prokofiev's score. This eliminates many technical showpieces that do nothing to advance the plot or further the characterisations.

Tragedy drives the entire production. Gary Dahms's costume designs, abstracted from period dress, symbolically clothe the Capulets, who begin the killing, in deep blood-red. A few elegant arches, cleverly mounted on rollers, constitute the minimalist set design by Glenn Davidson. As the ballet progresses these arches are moved to various locations by ominously shrouded figures and become part of the dance itself.

The dramatic interpretation encourages the dancers to concentrate on expressivity. Faye Leung's lyric portrayal of Juliet's transformation from bright-eyed innocent to grief-stricken lover is poetic and her technique strong and admirable. Also worthy of note are Michael Wang, perfectly cast as a raging Tybalt, and his antagonist So Hon-wah, who almost steals the show as an annoyingly playful Mercutio.

Flaws in the production are largely a result of an inhospitable performance space. The dimensions of the Tsuen Wan Town Hall Auditorium stage restrict movement--the famous balcony scene has to be played with the lovers at eye-level to one another. The music playback system seems to be as old as Shakespeare's tale itself [although these problems may be solved when the production moves to the Ko Shan Theatre].

But these setbacks fade into insignificance when the ballet reaches its harrowing climax, where Nobuo Fujino, as Romeo, comes into his own. His macabre pas de deux with the seemingly lifeless Juliet, followed by a similarly chilling dance by Leung, brings the production to a deeply emotional conclusion.