MATTHEW BOURNE’S PRODUCTION OF THE RED SHOES | UK TOUR @ KINGS THEATRE, GLASGOW
★★★★
“A mesmeric evening of movement and music…”
Sultry, seductive and with a dark, dark heart, Matthew Bourne’s double Olivier Award winning production of The Red Shoes is a magical piece of storytelling and an opportunity to lose yourself in a glorious world of passion and desire.
Based on Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1947 film of the same name, The Red Shoes is the story of Victoria Page, a rising star in the world of ballet. When fate decrees that Page replace an unexpectedly injured Prima Ballerina, her good fortune comes at a cost, leaving her torn between her lover, composer Julian Craster, and manipulative ballet company manager, Boris Lermontov… but is she willing to give up everything for her art?
Danced by a 30-strong company, this production is a mesmeric evening of movement and music. Bourne’s choreography, imaginative and edgy in its combining of ballet, contemporary dance and comedy, pays rich dividends. Beautifully tender in places, boisterous, threatening and preening in others, it’s choreography that thrives on the telling of the story just as his direction ensures the emotional flow of the evening is faultless, creating an intimacy in even the most comedic moments – a traditional Wilson, Keppell and Betty-style sand dance provides one of a few smile-raising highlights.
Played out as a show within a show, in which the mirroring of life in art is never far from the surface, it falls to Bourne’s’ long time associate at New Adventures, set designer Lez Brotherston, to frame the action on stage, which he does with breathtaking aplomb. Dominated by a gilded proscenium arch that roams the stage, floating ethereally, its curtain gently billowing, this magnificent coup de theatre dramatically flips the action from scene to scene. There are some truly magical moments.
From Covent Garden to Paris, the beach fronts of Monte Carlo and Villefranche-Sur-Mer as well as an ageing music Hall in London’s East End, Brotherston’s ingenious design transports both dancers and audience alike around the world and back.
With an evocative score of music by Hollywood composer Bernard Herrmann, finely orchestrated by another long time New Adventures’ collaborator, Terry Davies, the production captures its period beautifully, Paule Constable and Paul Groothuis lighting and sound designs adding depth to the ambience and character of the production.
And talking of characters, opening night saw the company in fine fettle with Hannah Kremer offering a vulnerable yet determined Page, while Reece Causton and Leonardo McCorkindale sparred nicely as Lermontov and Craster, respectively.
Elsewhere, Michela Meazza was particularly impressive as Irina Boronskaya, the prima ballerina robbed of her role through injury, while Will Bozier as premier danseur Ivan Boleslawsky, and Mark Austin as Company Manger Dimitri, proved robust in their performances.
In truth though, the strength and beauty of Bourne’s New Adventures company is their ensemble nature and shared understanding of his unique approach to creating accessible ‘dance theatre’, indeed 62% of The Red Shoes company are drawn from alumni of a New Adventures’ talent development programme. Add to that the fact that across a week, each dancer alternates between a number of roles, and you have a fresh, shatteringly cool and effortlessly passionate production that echoes the very sentiment of The Red Shoes itself.
Run ends 31 January Tickets HERE | Full tour details and tickets HERE
