6 May 2026 (matinee). Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House
The Australian Ballet’s 2026 presentation of John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet is quite simply extraordinary! To put it bluntly I can’t remember, in decades of watching dance, ever being so involved in the unfolding of a narrative production.
The actual dancing, led at the performance I saw by Brett Chynoweth as Romeo and Yuumi Yamada as Juliet, was just brilliant. And it was not just the dancing but the acting as well, and that from across the entire cast, which held the show together. Every character, even those in the corps de ballet, appeared to have an individual personality. Not only did they demonstrate individuality in their every moment onstage, but their reactions with each other were also so exceptional and entertaining that the story just sped along and held one’s attention from beginning to end.
This production was staged by choreologist Mark Kay and Yseult Lendval, a former principal dancer with Stuttgart Ballet and currently ballet mistress in Stuttgart. I can only surmise that the extraordinary nature of the production was a result of this staging and in fact Lendval is well-known for her connections with Cranko’s works.
But in addition to the dancing and acting, I suspect that the beautiful look of the ballet had much to do with the lighting design by Jon Buswell. The lighting design moved from the outdoor brightness of the market-place scenes to the indoor evening event in which Juliet and Romeo meet and dance together for the first time, and in which the Capulet family and their guest give us those famous group dance moments. Then there is the romantic outdoor evening light in which the balcony scene between Romeo and Juliet unfolds. Every moment is thrillingly lit and so well captured by Daniel Boud’s photography.
I suspect too that the costumes, designed way back in 1962 by Jürgen Rose, looked so spectacular in 2026 because of Buswell’s lighting (even though they may have been recently remade).
I was also thrilled to note that the Sergei Prokofiev score for the ballet (played by the Opera Australia Orchestra) was being conducted by Nigel Gaynor, whose work I have long admired during his time (now over apparently) with Queensland Ballet.
The one slightly jarring moment for me was in Act 3 when Juliet’s friends (and bridesmaids in waiting?) came into her bedroom to wake her up. The dance they did (and always do) before specifically approaching her as she lies in bed has always seemed too long to me. It did again on this occasion. Let’s get on with the story!
But all in all what a tremendous afternoon of ballet it was. I have purposely not singled out any of the dancers (other than mentioning Yamada and Chynoweth as the leads) as quite honestly everyone gave an exceptional performance.
Michelle Potter, 10 May 2026
Featured image, A moment from the carnival scene from John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet. The Australian Ballet, 2026. Photo: © Daniel Boud
I attended this performance as a member of the general public. My ticket cost $245
Thanks for this review. It seems like a huge and impressive production — but then Cranko was never a shrinking violet. I have continued to enjoy Ashley Killar’s biography of Cranko to learn about his major achievements and where his major influences came from. (I think Killar’s own R & J for RNZB was billed as “after Cranko”)
Sorry to hear this is Nigel Gaynor’s last project with QB — he was always terrific during his time as Musical Director here at RNZB.
Isn’t the Friends’ dance around the (death)bed of Juliet just as long as Prokofiev wanted it to be? It’s hard to breathe while watching the poignant contrast between the living and the dead invoked by this dance.
Thanks for your comment Jennifer, which I really enjoyed reading. I gather you disagreed with me about the ‘bridesmaids-in-waiting’. I have always found the choreography for this section ’girlishly twee’. And while I know they are just young girls, so is Juliet and her choreography isn’t like that in my opinion. Anyway, we can of course disagree!
But what captured my attention most of all were your thoughts about Nigel Gaynor. I remember at one stage sitting quite close to the orchestra at one performance with Queensland Ballet and being so impressed with how Nigel conducted, not just with the music in mind but also with how the dancers were moving at any one time. He was conducting a dance performance. That sounds a somewhat crazy thing to say but I have watched recent conductors who seem not to realise that there is dancing going on. They are conducting music only. Very frustrating.
Then I recall something that happened at the launch of my book Glimpses of Graeme. Graeme Murphy, who is the subject of the book of course, was there and, when we got to questions from the audience, someone asked him who he thought was the best dance conductor working in Australia. I have a pretty good idea what she wanted him to say, although I won’t go any further into that. But Graeme, I could tell, was struggling a little with how to handle the question and went way back to a conductor who was no longer working (or alive). So I intervened and said how impressed I was with Nigel Gaynor. Well Graeme’s face lit up and he made various complimentary remarks and also mentioned that Nigel had played for classes at the Australian Ballet School. So a lot of things fell into place for me.
I sincerely hope that Nigel will find something that suits his skills and accomplishments.
Nigel made a splendid job of the music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream premiered on RNZB in a shared production with QB. (a project devised by Ethan Stiefel). Nigel took Mendelssohn’s original and expanded it into a full length score, drawing on other of his compositions, making a beautiful and seamless result. Liam Scarlett at his finest. What a tragic loss… a Shakesearean scale of tragedy.