Wuthering Heights -- Leeds Grand

It's a brave step to take one of the nation's best-loved books and adapt it as Northern Ballet Theatre have done with the timeless Wuthering Heights.

But in many ways, the NBT's conversion of the story is a success.

This is ballet with an edge. Traditional in parts but with sprinklings of simmering sexuality and allusions to acts Emily Bront would dare not have mentioned in her novel.

There are even undertones of S&M where Heathcliff, his riding crop and Isabella are concerned!

Jonathan Ollivier was everything he should be as the anti-hero: brooding, dark and flawed while Charlotte Talbot as Cathy danced the role of a woman torn beautifully and with real grace.

The sets, while deliberately simple, helped portray the familiar ruggedness and brutality of the Moors effectively enough -- even if the fake snow seemed slightly ironic in a swelteringly hot theatre.

In the novel, Cathy dies in childbirth but David Nixon's ballet sees her die, childless, from a fever, leaving a heartbroken Heathcliff behind.

The last scene was perhaps the most moving with an aged Heathcliff alone on the moors during a snow-storm. As he sinks to his knees to die, Pollyanna Th'ng and Simon Kidd as the younger Cathy and Heathcliff dance noiselessly across the stage reflecting an innocence lost.

The only flaw for me was the score. I wanted the music to unravel my emotions more during the gentler scenes and tear at them during the ballet's darkest moments. It never really managed to do either and as a result, the spectacle failed to move me as much as it might have.

lRuns until Saturday.

Stuart Roberts

Fiddler on the Roof -- Alhambra Theatre

Fiddler on the Roof is a tale surrounding peasant farmer Tevye, his wife and his five daughters.

We see the father facing up to the fact his daughters are choosing their own husbands, breaking with Jewish traditions of match-making.

Meanwhile the whole village is at threat because of a tense simmering relationship between the Jewish community and their Russian overlords. The story takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions: joy one minute, laughter the next before bringing you down to earth.

Paul Nichol was brilliant as the lead Tevye. Other outstanding performances were given from Golde, his wife, his daughters and Tim Laurenti as the wet and weedy tailor.

The performance was a particularly enjoyable one with excellent songs that most people should know, such as If I Was a Rich Man.

Dean Harness