Merlin is at the Theatre Royal Nottingham from 25 September – 2 October 2021. If you get the chance to see this amazing performance, take it, experience the marvellous dancing, the music, magic and myth that is Merlin. The uniqueness of ballet is that it is a representation of the symbiotic relationship between sound and movement, a note on a flute can be seen in the flick of a finger, in Merlin the synergy between dancers and orchestra was perfect.įollowing such a difficult couple of years for us all, the spectacle of live theatre was one of the things I have missed the most but watching costume and stage setting for this I couldn’t have been more delighted.Ĭostumes and set, from the blacksmiths forge to the forest scenes were excellent as were the effects and puppetry – watch out for the dragon!
I think what is so often overlooked in ballet is the music and the NB should be justifiably proud of the music by Grant Olding, performed by the Northern Ballet Sinfonia under the direction of Jonathon Lo. All seemed to move with effortless grace around the stage regardless of whether it was a battle scene or a tender moment. Kevin Poeung in the title role as Merlin danced brilliantly with seemingly boundless energy, Antoinette Brooks-Daw as Morgan was superb with Javier Torres as Vortigern, suitably menacing and Minju Kang as the Blackmith, strong and supportive. In the prologue we saw Merlin’s conception, this short introduction to the following two hours entertainment certainly set the standard.īeing no expert on the world of ballet, I felt that the performance of the entire company was faultless. He took a much more diverse route in the telling of his story. The merlin story probably has no historic foundation at all, but as with all good fairy stories and legends, we all feel that we have some relationship the cast, which little girl has never danced like Cinderella at the ball, or young lad pretended to be Arthur, pulling Excalibur from a stone, sometimes its forgotten that it is said that Merlin placed the sword in the stone.Īs I settled into my seat I had some preconceptions of what I may be seeing, perhaps a shape shifting master magician was going to be entertainment for the evening, that as it happened was not the story that choreographer and director Drew McOnie chose to present us with. Unless you’re over 1000 years old you’ll probably have heard of the name Merlin, usually in the next breath is Arthur. The recommendation for the wearing of masks seemed sensible, and was adhered to by the majority of the audience. Having only attended the theatre once in the post-Covid period, the first noticeable change was receiving E-tickets which could be shown on a smart phone or device, or for the old-school, printed out. My daughter and I enjoyed a pre-show meal and drinks and talked of days now long gone, her lining up for Saturday morning ballet class and now eagerly awaiting the evenings world premiere performance of Merlin by Northern Ballet. There are many bars and restaurants around the theatre. The theatre bar has a good range of drinks and food available.
On street parking and car parks are easy to find around the theatre.
The Theatre Royal, is a great theatre, having some of the best transport links in the country including a tram stop right outside the door.
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