I’ve decided this charming, highly original dance-theatre piece – subtitled A Guide to Long Life and Happy Marriage – is more theatre than dance, so I’m going to write about it.
Juliet and Romeo are a modern couple, who survived because Romeo didn’t take the poison. They emigrated to Paris, married and had a child. The marriage is troubled and they’ve tried all sorts of therapeutic solutions before they get to this one – re-enacting episodes from their lives, chosen individually, in front of an audience. It sounds ridiculous as I write, but it was really rather captivating and it was surprising how much story you can pack into eighty minutes, a lot of which is occupied by dance / movement. You really engage with these lives and their stories.
There’s an eclectic soundtrack, from Prokofiev (obviously) through The Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel to John Cage to accompany the often quirky movement which Ben Duke and Solene Weinachter perform. For dancers, they make very good actors, as the sections without movement were just as compelling.
A unexpected delight. Now finished at BAC, but heading for The Place.
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