It's 35 years since I first stuck my nose into the Barbican... and I still feel uncomfortable there. As welcoming as a 1960s East European airport with zero atmosphere or personality, it might also explain why I have enjoyed only a handful of productions in the theatre there; it's a rare performance that can make one forget the dispiriting surroundings outside the auditorium. We were at the Barbican recently to see The Royal Ballet's production of Will Tuckett's ELIZABETH - needless to say the surroundings were no Covent Garden.
ELIZABETH was first performed in 2013 at the Old Royal Naval College at Greenwich, the site of Elizabeth's birth in the now-demolished Greenwich Palace. It was revived in 2016 as part of William Shakespeare's 400th anniversary celebrations at the Linbury Studio at Covent Garden and here it was again in the Barbican.
It is a chamber piece, with a company of seven, and runs for 90 minutes with no interval. I am sure it worked better on a small stage, it's very sparse quality sometimes looked a bit strange on the enormous Barbican stage; a large golden panel served as the sole set piece but then with the wonderfully charismatic Zenaida Yanowsky reprising the role of Elizabeth, there was really only one place to look: she was mesmeric and held attention throughout.
Will Tuckett collaborated with Alasdair Middleton on the text which is drawn from Elizabeth's own writings along with contemporaneous writings by her intimates and also play-texts which used the Queen as it's subject. Composer Martin Yates wrote his score using Tudor musical patterns and it sounded great played on a solo cello by the charmingly named Raphael Waallfisch, and it was sung by the baritone Julien Van Mellaerts who also doubled as a supernumerary.
Starting with Elizabeth slipping into her final illness, she spins back through her life and meets again the men who all came closest emotionally to The Virgin Queen; namely Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester, the Duc D'Anjou, Sir Walter Raleigh and Robert Deveraux Earl of Essex. These were all danced by Yuri Yanowsky, Zenaida's brother.
They danced together with an easy familiarity and he delineated the different men well but I think an additional male dancer might have broken up the similarity, although I suspect that was the intention, to show that Elizabeth was constantly attracted to the same man, indeed Yuri also danced Elizabeth's final partner, a figure signifying Death.
They were supported by Sonya Cullingford and Katie Deacon, and more excitingly for me, Samantha Bond lent her purring voice to commenting on the danced love affairs in Elizabeth's own words or the thoughts of those who witnessed the relationship themselves. She was a lovely addition to the production and it was a pleasure to see her in such a key role.
As entertaining as it was, it did sometimes feel overly slight: it would have been dramatically more varied if another female dancer could have danced the role of Mary Queen of Scots, an important opponent in Elizabeth's life which might have provided a dramatic counter-point - the piece did rather give the impression that the only important thing in her 45 year reign was the men in her life which is a bit reductive.
Special mention must be made of Fay Fullerton's eye-catching costumes which were quick-changed into by Yanowsky at times; it must have been a hard job to design costumes which summoned up the Tudor look but were also easy to wear and to move with the dancer; the answer was the use of silk and organza printed with the heavier look of brocades. Paule Constable's lighting also helped to show the changing focus of the story.
But it was the remarkable Zenaida Yanowsky who held the attention throughout: transitioning seamlessly through the different ages and moods of Elizabeth: imperious, flirtatious, frail, youthful, angry - she moved through her character's life with passion, grace and magnetism.
But she saved her biggest surprise at the end: gesturing for the applause to end, she produced a note from her bodice and, reading from it, told us how much she loved dancing the role which Tuckett had created just for her and especially dancing with Yuri. Zenaida praised Tuckett for all their collaborations in the past, and said how special this was... as it was her last time dancing on stage! There was a huge collective groan from the audience and her co-stars looked on in various states of surprise and shock.
Personally I think it's me and Owen... when we went to see her in MARGUERITE AND ARMAND last year it was actually her last night on the Covent Garden stage as she was stepping down from the Royal Ballet regular company!
Whatever, I have been very lucky to see the incomparable Zenaida live...
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