BBC Documentaries

Romeo and Juliet: Beyond Words (2020x13)

Air date: Jan 01, 2020

As members of the feuding Capulet and Montague families, Romeo and Juliet should be sworn enemies, but they fall deeply in love and marry in secret. That very day, disastrous circumstances lead Romeo to fight and kill Juliet's cousin Tybalt, setting off a chain of events that culminate in tragedy. Juliet takes a potion to avoid the love match her parents have set up for her, and Romeo, believing she is dead, poisons himself. When she wakes from her deep sleep, Juliet finds the body of her love and is so distraught that she stabs herself, joining him in death. Romeo and Juliet is a drama feature film shot on location in Hungary, starring the dancers of the Royal Ballet in Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s classic ballet. The film is set to Sergei Prokofiev’s original score for Romeo and Juliet, and is unique in telling this classic story through dance. The score was adapted especially for the film. It was recorded at AIR Studios in Hampstead, London, with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, in early 2019. The 85 players were conducted by the renowned Royal Opera House music director Koen Kessels, and the leader was Vasko Vassilev. Highlighting the essence of MacMillan’s original choreography, Michael Nunn and William Trevitt’s Romeo and Juliet takes viewers into the action with a striking intimacy. Through detailed portrayals by the Royal Ballet dancers, the film is a gripping story about real characters through an audacious experience that is by turn epic and intimate. With the story presented in a groundbreaking new light, the film captures the extraordinary performances that have earned the Royal Ballet the reputation of producing the greatest actor-dancers in the world. Seizing the opportunity to perform scenes with unparalleled subtlety, the dancers’ artistry pays tribute to what is internationally recognised as the zenith of the dance storytelling. Reimagined for the camera by the International Emmy Award winners Michael Nunn and William Trevitt, the film deliv