Sergei Prokofiev. Romeo and Juliet

A bold version of Sergei Prokofiev's magical ballet "Romeo and Juliet" on the stage of the Prague National Theatre.

Sergei Prokofiev, a world-famous pianist and composer, returned to the USSR in the 1930s after a long tour abroad. In his homeland, the composer decided to write a ballet based on William Shakespeare's tragedy "Romeo and Juliet". Shakespeare scholar and artistic director of the Leningrad Kirov Theatre Sergei Radlov and Adrian Piotrovsky, a playwright and renowned theatre scholar, participated in writing the libretto for "Romeo and Juliet".

In 1935, Prokofiev, Radlov and Piotrovsky finished work on the ballet, and the Kirov Theatre management approved the music. However, the ending of the musical work differed from Shakespeare's: in the finale of the ballet, the heroes not only remained alive, but also maintained their romantic relationship. This attempt at a classic plot puzzled the censors. The authors rewrote the script, but the production was still banned, allegedly because of the "non-dance" music.

Its premiere took place only three years after it was written, in December 1938. Not in Moscow or St. Petersburg, but in the Czechoslovak city of Brno. The ballet was staged by choreographer Ivo Psota, who also danced the part of Romeo. The role of Juliet was performed by the Czech dancer Zora Šemberová.

To this day, the ballet "Romeo and Juliet" is the most performed in the Czech Republic. Artistic director of the Czech National Ballet Petr Zuska presented a new version of Sergei Prokofiev's ballet on the stage of the Prague National Theatre. Unlike the original Shakespearean tragedy, it does not focus on the story of the lovers, but reveals the reasons for the resentment and blood feud between the Montagues and the Capulets: the conflicts of the male and female principles.

PERFORMERS:

Queen Mab - Nikola Marová

Padre Lorenzo - Viktor Konvalinka

Juliet - Marta Drastiková

Romeo - Ondřej Vinklat

Mercutio - Matthias Dene

Tybalt - Giovanni Rotolo

Signora Montague - Michaela Venzelová

Signor Capulet - Jiri Kodym

National Ballet

National Opera Orchestra

Conductor - Václav Zahradník

Stage Director - Petr Zuska

Prague National Theatre, Prague, 2015