Review: Northern Ballet's Cleopatra

Review: Cleopatra [Northern Ballet]
Venue: Grand Theatre, Leeds
Date: Wednesday 2nd March 2011 at 19:30
Rating: **1/2
Cast: Martha Leebolt (Cleopatra), Kenneth Tindall (Wadjet/Snake), Giuliano Contadini (Ptolemy), Javier Torres (Julius Caesar), Tobias Batley (Mark Antony), Hannah Bateman (Octavia), Hironao Takahashi (Octavian), Pippa Moore (Charmian) and Antoinette Brooks-Daw (Iras)

This was quite a last-minute decision for me. Since I was home alone with nothing to do (well, there was something to do but I didn't want to do it), I went to the Leeds Grand Theatre website to see what was on. And this week they were showing Northern Ballet's World Premiere of Cleopatra. With some consideration, I finally decided to go and here is my thought on the production.

I was sitting in the Upper Circle, centre aisle, third row back so I had quite a good view of the stage, if a little bit far. I have to admit that I have never been a ballet fan and that might result in my liking of the show. I know that there would be no dialogue in the show so I quickly familiarized myself with the synopsis in the programme. And boy, was I right to do so? If I hadn't read the synopsis beforehand, I probably wouldn't have any clue what was going on!! I think that's the downpoint of ballet and especially this one where there were so much story and you can't say it out. Everything is communicated through dance but dance can't communicate everything.. But ballet lovers might say different things so I will end that issue there.

Talking about the dancers, I think they were great and very talented, especially Martha Leebolt who plays Cleopatra. She really has the grace and power of the role. Another dancer who really stood out for me was Kenneth Tindall as Wadjet, AKA The Snake, who presided over most events in the show as if he was a narrator if this were a musical. I also need to mention Tobias Batley who portrayed Mark Antony very well. However, I feel that the guys who played Ptolemy and Julius Caesar was not as good as the other leading players.

Cleopatra and Wadjet during their opening scene in Act One
(Martha Leebolt and Kenneth Tindall)

Cleopatra and Mark Antony
(Martha Leebolt and Tobias Batley)

As for the production, the sets and costumes were very simple which was OK, I guess. I didn't quite get the "projection design". Most of the time, from where I sat, I couldn't see what was projected on the screen. If I hadn't read from somewhere that they would be using projection as part of the set design, I wouldn't have noticed it. The choreography by David Nixon (who also directed the show) was quite so-so to me. There were really nice and clever moments like when Cleopatra gave birth to Caesarion (Julius Caesar's son) and the orgy scene of Mark Antony and the ensemble. But apart from that, there wasn't much of a "wow factor" for me in this production.

I was really looking forward to hearing the score of this ballet since it was written by Claude-Michel Schonberg of Les Miserables and Miss Saigon. But again, it was very mediocre and no musical theme stood out to me here. Definitely can't compare with his previous works.

To tell you the truth, I wasn't sure whether I enjoyed the show or not. The first act was really slow and I actually heard snore from member of the audience near me. I, myself, was feeling drowsy as well. I have to admit though that the second act was A LOT better and the dance itself was a lot more interesting to look at but I think when we were near the end, I was feeling drowsy again.

Well, there was my thought on it. It's not that I didn't like the show but I guess that ballet is really not my thing so my recommendation is if you're into musicals, you might need to think twice before going to see it (I would just stick to musicals to be honest) but I don't know whether from a ballet expert's point of view, how would they feel about the show?

Cleopatra will be playing in Leeds until tomorrow night, then it will tour to Edinburgh, Hull, Sheffield, Cardiff, Milton Keynes, Belfast, London, Nottingham, Woking and Norwich. Northern Ballet's upcoming production this year also includes Giselle (Leeds), Hamlet (Leeds, Sheffield), The Nutcracker (Aylesbury, Canterbury, Bradford, Newcastle, Manchester) and Beauty & The Beast (Leeds). For more information, please visit http://www.northernballet.com/

Cleopatra, Ptolemy and the Ensemble
(Martha Leebolt and Giuliano Contadini)