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Dominic North as Count Lilac and company. Pictures: Johan Persson Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty Birmingham Hippodrome ***** On a frosty evening, Birmingham Hippodrome hosted
the 10th anniversary production of Sir Matthew Bourne’s
‘Sleeping Beauty – a gothic romance’. It begins in familiar territory – leaving you
with the warm feeling of hugging a hot water bottle on a cold winter’s
night, as the comforting storybook beginning beamed on to the curtain –
giving the slightest nod to Disney before transporting you to Matthew
Bourne’s universe. It is a universe which Bourne’s fans know all too
well – a fantastical world of wit and grace, cleverness and desire,
surprise and destiny. In this world, which always offers an escape from
the mundanity of modern life, there is always a sense of anticipation of
the enjoyment to come. This New Adventures production takes a story
which feels well-trodden and subverts it, adding vampire fairies and a
modern day twist. From the very start, it offers something new – the baby Aurora coming to life via skilled puppeteers and getting laughs that actors in other productions would give their back teeth for. These initial exchanges are important as they establish the heart of the piece with Rory MacLeod and Isaac Bowry as footmen and Jade Copas and Sophia Hurdley as Aurora’s maid and Nanny respectively, doing a fantastic job of dropping the audience into a relationship, firmly establishing the bond between the audience and the aura of Aurora, before the excellent Ashley Shaw has even taken to the stage. Indeed this importance of establishing personal connections extends to whom we would normally identify as ‘the prince’ – in this case Andrew Monaghan’s Leo, the Royal Gamekeeper. Traditionally the ‘prince’ only wakes the sleeping beauty with the slightly creepy concept of an unconsented (and unconscious) ‘loves true kiss’.
Ashley Shaw as Aurora) with Andrew Monaghan as Leo Thankfully gothic romance dispenses with this
narrative and instead takes the time to actually invest the audience in
their relationship, which is blossoming before cruelly being cut short
by the evil Caradoc, son of the Dark fairy Carabosse – both played with
a sinister edge by Ben
Brown (I was severely tempted to boo him – in a good way). The vampire angle is to enable our love story to
span the centuries, after a forlorn Leo is bitten by Count Lilac, king
of the fairies, played with aplomb by Paris Fitzpatrick. That’s enough of the spoilers – integral to the
audience’s transportation to another realm is the costumes and set
design. Lez Brotherston is truly a masterclass in both – creating a
sprawling, inventive set and sumptuous costumes which accentuate the
fantastic dancers who reside within them. Added to this there was an
innovative edge to the lighting (courtesy of designer Paule Constable),
which lent an intense and intoxicating atmosphere with shadows and
reflections adding layers of complexity to the other worldly feel to the
production. The dancing, as you would expect, was magnificent
at times – with my highlight being the sleeping dance between Aurora and
Caradoc – with Ashley Shaw’s dancing being nothing short of sublime –
you really have to see it to understand how astonishingly good it was. The music, recorded by the Sleeping Beauty
Orchestra in 2012, was so well handled, it could have been a live
performance and really does Tchaikovsky justice. Overall, this really is a fantastic production
and yet again testament not only to the skill of Matthew Bourne and his
New Adventures Team but also to their determination to foster new and
emerging talent – indeed 13 of the 27 dancers in the Sleeping Beauty
company have come through the New Adventures’ talent development
programmes with the 3 dancers emanating from Elmhurst Ballet School just
down the road in Egbaston. Coupled with the Hippodrome’s very own Hippodrome
Education Network, it’s nice to see the arts investing in young and
local talent and even nicer to see said talent delivering in bucketloads. Sleeping Beauty is a fantastic production and is
on until Saturday February 11th (the matinee performance on
the 11th is audio described). With limited availability for
some performances and other dates sold out, if you do want to go – then
it’s best to book ASAP. You can do so
here. If you are lucky enough to get a ticket – you’re in for a real
treat. Theo Clarke 07-02-23 |
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