TOWARDS the end of this 70 minutes performance when asked why she thought the story of teenagers Denis and Katya had attracted so much attention a journalist who had reported on the tragedy likened the story to Romeo and Juliet.

She added that they were also two good looking youngsters.

She could have perhaps added it was in a remote part of Russia with its association with secrecy and police state conspiracy theories.

South Wales Argus:

Denis and Katya by Philip Venables and Ted Huffman, at the Riverfront Theatre, Newport, on February 25, 2020. Picture: CLIVE BARDA/ArenaPAL

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For the uninitiated this was a tale for today, two disaffected, bored, teenagers, with access to alcohol and a variety of guns (although the latter is disputed in the conspiracy theory world), who in 2016 holed-up in a cabin on a residential street in a depressed small town in Russia and started firing off shots out of the window, shooting the television, and streaming it all on the internet.

After a three-day stand-off the police moved in and the pair die.

Did they kill themselves or were they shot by the police?

South Wales Argus:

Denis and Katya by Philip Venables and Ted Huffman, at the Riverfront Theatre, Newport, on February 25, 2020. Picture: CLIVE BARDA/ArenaPAL

The fascinating work is less the two teenagers re-enacting the episode but rather those around them telling the story from their perspective, their teacher, a friend, a neighbour, a medic, the journalist and, most interestingly, the creators of the work.

This included whether they should include actual video footage or even whether to do it all.

In this one-act co-production between Music Theatre Wales, Opera Philadelphia and Opera Orchestra National Montpelier, Johnny Herford and Emily Edmonds play the teenagers.

South Wales Argus:

Denis and Katya by Philip Venables and Ted Huffman, at the Riverfront Theatre, Newport, on February 25, 2020. Picture: CLIVE BARDA/ArenaPAL

They also take on the various roles, with music provided by four cellists, while on a black backdrop text exchanges are projected.

In short scenes (some just a few seconds) one singer is accompanied by the other speaking what the other is singing (even in English), other times one explains what the other is signing in Russian, such as the nervous fidgeting friend or near hysterical neighbour.

There are also some recorded voices, particularly effective at the end as they discuss what should be included in the story telling.

Now touring until March 27.

Visit www.musictheatre.wales

By Mike Smith