ŻfinMalta takes on a Shakespearean sequel
Choreographer RICCARDO BUSCARINI speaks to Lara Zammit about his work Requiem for Juliet set to be staged by national dance company ŻfinMalta this month at the Manoel Theatre. Commissioned for ŻfinMalta, Requiem for Juliet stands as a sequel to the story narrated in William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet. In Shakespeare’s famous tale, two lovers are destined for tragedy due to their warring families – the Montagues and the Capulets – forbidding them from being together. In this work, the narrative is relived as an imaginary letter to the deceased Juliet from her bereaved mother, represented onstage by the actress Charlotte Grech. Riccardo Buscarini’s choreography is intertwined with voice-over text written for this work and inspired by the original play. Speaking to Times of Malta about how he came to envision his choreography as the sequel to Romeo and Juliet, Buscarini says that he was looking to create something as yet unexplored. “I was looking for an unexpected twist, a path that had not been taken before in contemporary dance,” he said. “I didn’t want to narrate the story as it is. I started my reflections by assuming we all know what happens in Romeo and Juliet. It...