Bourne on the Record: Not So Fast, Romeo!???
Date: 26 March 2007
Following a report in last week’s
Sunday Times that
Matthew Bourne is working on an all-male gay version of
Romeo and Juliet (See
The Goss, 20 Mar 2007), the director-choreographer has issued a statement clarifying the parameters and status of the project. “This summer I am leading a one week workshop funded by the Jerwood Studio at Sadler’s Wells,” says Bourne. “This will involve six young men, working on the simple theme of romantic and sexual love duets between male dancers. I have named the workshop
Romeo, Romeo as a reference to the greatest of stories about young love. I discussed this idea, and my thoughts on the inherent problems involved, with the respected writer Joan Acocella, in a
New Yorker profile that she was writing on me (12 March 2007 issue). At present, this is just an idea: a sincere exploration into the possibility of telling a convincing and positive gay love story. Recent reports in the press announcing a production of Prokoviev’s
Romeo and Juliet with my company New Adventures came as a complete surprise to me. There are no plans for such a production at the moment. The workshop will show us if we have anything to share with the world!"
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