Nicholas Georgiadis collaborated with MacMillan on multiple occasions throughout his career. His set designs along with John B. Read’s lighting design creates a “vast production” (Thornhill). However, the “core component” of the vast production is “the evolution of Romeo and Juliet’s relationship, from their initial shyness to their final moments” (Thornhill). Georgiadis’ designs create an “evocative, visual history of [Romeo and Juliet] and the dancers who created it” (Brown). In keeping with MacMillan’s traditional take on the Shakespearean play, there is an attempt to remain true to the styles of the 1590s. However, there are necessary changes to allow for choreographed movement. Men wear classical ballet tights, and the women’s dresses
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Because Pastor centers the lovers’ story throughout three separate generations, Van Walsum helped to reinvent a traditionally 16th century costuming design and “[shift] the setting to 20th century Italy” (Pastor). Van Walsum used color not only to differentiate between Capulets and Montagues but also between multiple generations of Capulets of Montagues. In the 1930s era of Mussolini and fascism, Verona is colored only in black and white. In Act II, which occurs in the 1950s, “a black and white world turns to sepia tones with a feeling of hope and love” (Pastor). Finally, in Verona of the 1990s, does the use of “full color [bring the audience] to the contemporary world” (Pastor). Throughout the entirety of the ballet, the Montague family wears white, and the Capulet family wears black. Because there is a separation of classes in …show more content…
The Balcony Scene and the Marriage Consummation both occur with very little lighting as if to mimic the moonlight shining upon the lovers who cannot show their love beyond the realm of the moonlight into the realm of the sunlight. William Bundy’s original lighting and John B. Read’s revival lighting designs accentuate the absurdity of the “tempering extremities with extreme sweet” (Act II, Prologue). The fight scene in Act I of MacMillan’s ballet begins with a yellow lighting, reminiscent of sunlight, and once the battle finishes and the dead are counted, darkness sets in. This lighting theme of the transition from bright light to darkness following the death of a character occurs throughout all three acts of the ballet. Even when the antagonistic Tybalt dies, the lighting darkens to highlight the absurdity of the loss of young life. The set designs for MacMillan’s production are on a much grander scale than that of Pastor’s production. However, the set design is not overwhelming with too many backdrops or too many set pieces on stage. For example, during both of the corps de ballet village scenes in Acts I and II, tall marble-esque pillars surround the stage and a few cart vendors
Because Pastor centers the lovers’ story throughout three separate generations, Van Walsum helped to reinvent a traditionally 16th century costuming design and “[shift] the setting to 20th century Italy” (Pastor). Van Walsum used color not only to differentiate between Capulets and Montagues but also between multiple generations of Capulets of Montagues. In the 1930s era of Mussolini and fascism, Verona is colored only in black and white. In Act II, which occurs in the 1950s, “a black and white world turns to sepia tones with a feeling of hope and love” (Pastor). Finally, in Verona of the 1990s, does the use of “full color [bring the audience] to the contemporary world” (Pastor). Throughout the entirety of the ballet, the Montague family wears white, and the Capulet family wears black. Because there is a separation of classes in …show more content…
The Balcony Scene and the Marriage Consummation both occur with very little lighting as if to mimic the moonlight shining upon the lovers who cannot show their love beyond the realm of the moonlight into the realm of the sunlight. William Bundy’s original lighting and John B. Read’s revival lighting designs accentuate the absurdity of the “tempering extremities with extreme sweet” (Act II, Prologue). The fight scene in Act I of MacMillan’s ballet begins with a yellow lighting, reminiscent of sunlight, and once the battle finishes and the dead are counted, darkness sets in. This lighting theme of the transition from bright light to darkness following the death of a character occurs throughout all three acts of the ballet. Even when the antagonistic Tybalt dies, the lighting darkens to highlight the absurdity of the loss of young life. The set designs for MacMillan’s production are on a much grander scale than that of Pastor’s production. However, the set design is not overwhelming with too many backdrops or too many set pieces on stage. For example, during both of the corps de ballet village scenes in Acts I and II, tall marble-esque pillars surround the stage and a few cart vendors