The Royal Ballet’s film version of Romeo and Juliet, considered by many one of the greatest love stories and ballets of all time, will be screened on 13 and 14 October at the Fugard Theatre Bioscope.

The principal dancers in this production include Lauren Cuthbertson as Juliet and Ferderico Bonelli as Romeo - Barry Wordsworth conducts.

Romeo and Juliet, Kenneth MacMillan’s first full-evening ballet, has been one of The Royal Ballet’s signature works, popular all over the world. Crowd scenes at the beginning of the ballet teem with life and colour, as members of the corps de ballet portray the townspeople, market traders and servants of the rival Montagues and Capulets. However, once Romeo and Juliet meet, everything else on stage can only be scenery for their story. Three great pas de deux: the meeting in the ballroom, the balcony scene and the morning after the wedding, eloquently convey the narrative: adolescent shyness and fascination; the headlong rush of love declared, and the grief of parting. The final scene in the tomb, a pas de deux with a lifeless partner, is devastating.

The Royal Ballet has performed Romeo and Juliet over 400 times, yet each performance is slightly different. Fresh pairings in the leading roles bring new nuances to the lovers’ characters, while the richness of supporting roles, from the exuberant trio of harlots in the town square to the deadly rage of Tybalt, offers room for dancers throughout the Company. Nicholas Georgiadis’s earthy Renaissance designs, with some of the original details recently restored, are the perfect backdrop.

The screening of Romeo and Juliet at The Fugard is at 16h00 on Saturday 13th October and on Sunday 14th October 2012 with tickets R100.00 per person.