Dance review: Northern Ballet - Cleopatra

Published on Sunday 13 March 2011 19:12

Northern Ballet: Cleopatra Edinburgh Festival Theatre *****

HISTORY tells us that Cleopatra and her menfolk lived a life of epic proportions. So it seems entirely appropriate that Northern Ballet's take on the Queen of the Nile's sexual and political conquests is similarly epic. Vast crumbling columns flank the stage, colourful projections adorn the cleverly effective set and a plethora of stunning costumes conjure up the wealth and excess of Egyptian royalty and formality of the Roman military.

Against this backdrop, choreographer David Nixon has had a ball. Upbeat party scenes, aggressive murders, orgiastic gatherings, births, deaths and marriages – all the stuff of ancient life is here. Composer Claude-Michel Schnberg matches Nixon every step of the way, with a score that conveys drama, conflict and love in equal measure.

Little is known about the day-to-day existence of these people, so inevitably the characters of Cleopatra, Caesar and Mark Antony are drawn with broad brush strokes, focusing on their strength, power and overt sexuality. Despite this, the closing moments after Mark Antony's suicide are deeply moving. Before initiating her own death via the asp (played here as a snake god), Cleopatra has one final pas de deux with each of her great loves, who briefly reappear during her one moment of weakness.

Both Nixon and Schnberg have been criticised for being "populist" theatre makers. But if that means soliciting the kind of applause seen at the Festival Theatre last week, and creating such vibrant, entertaining and captivating work, then long may they continue.