Romeo and Juliet (Nureyev) Romeo and Juliet (Nureyev) Rudolf Nureyev's production of Sergei Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet" premiered at the London Coliseum on 2 June 1977. Rudolf Nureyev had previously dances as the leading role in Kenneth MacMillan's production of the ballet at the Royal Ballet, Covent Garden in 1965. In 1977, Nureyev left the Royal Ballet and created his own production of the ballet for London Festival Ballet to celebrate the Queen's Silver Jubilee. This production premiered at the London Coliseum on 2 June 1977, with the British ballerina Patricia Ruanne as Juliet and Rudolf as Romeo. This production is still in the
Romeo and Juliet Betterton Mercutio, and Betterton's wife Mary Saunderson Juliet: she was probably the first woman to play the role professionally. Another version closely followed Davenant's adaptation and was also regularly performed by the Duke's Company. This was a tragicomedy by James Howard, in which the two lovers survive. Thomas Otway's "The History and Fall of Caius Marius", one of the more extreme of the Restoration adaptations of Shakespeare, debuted in 1680. The scene is shifted from Renaissance Verona to ancient Rome; Romeo is Marius, Juliet is Lavinia, the feud is between patricians and plebeians; Juliet/Lavinia wakes from her potion before Romeo/Marius