Review | Sadlers Wells’ Mods and Rockers clash in spectacular Battle of Brighton dance off

QUADROPHENIA, A MOD BALLET | FESTIVAL THEATRE, EDINBURGH

★ ★ ★ ★

‘…a universal story worth telling, especially when done in as spectacularly as this’

‘We are the Mods, we are the Mods, we are, we are, we are the Mods!’ At the Festival Theatre this week, Sadler’s Wells transport audiences back to an infamous Whitsun Bank Holiday weekend in May 1964 that became known as the Battle of Brighton, when Mods and Rockers clashed along the beach of the East Sussex seaside resort.

Pete Townshend’s Quadrophenia, A Mod Ballet is a powerful piece of dance theatre and a visual and aural delight. Waves crash and the music swells and ebbs as Jimmy, standing on a rock wrestles with the vying aspects of his personality; it’s a dramatic and spectacular opening scene that demonstrates the power of modern digital scenery when used to its full, glorious potential.

The story may be set in the early-Sixties, as a blast of Steptoe and Son remind us a bit later, but this is a production for today, screens, physical scenery and the innovative nature of Christopher Oram’s cinematic set design combined with YeastCulture.org’s mesmerising video imagery bringing it to life.

Quadrophenia is the story of working class Mod Jimmy, a young man growing up in London and aspiring to be more than just another assembly line worker in a factory. Jimmy’s journey to find his place in a chaotic and ever-changing world takes him from Soho to Brighton where, accompanied by four facets of his personality – Tough Guy, Lunatic, Romantic and Hypocrite – he explores the confusion, contradictions and pain of self-discovery.

From Brighton Beach to a Psychiatrist’s Office, Jimmy’s House to a rock concert in Soho, a factory to a diner then, basement club and more, Act 1 flies by in 58 minutes. Act 2, which opens with an energetic threesome in Jimmy’s Bedroom, follows his journey to Brighton Beach for the clash of subcultures, and the destruction of a friendship. Again, it’s delivered in a tight 45 minutes.

Paul Roberts choreography, meaty and at times raw, boasts a 60’s vibe that captures the teenage rebellion of the age perfectly, while director Rob Ashford plays with perspective and ensures a pacy episodic flow to the storytelling, although occasionally it does become undefined amidst the Roberts’ movement.

That in part is down to Rachel Fuller’s orchestral arrangement of Pete Townshend’s strident score, which has an innate sense of melancholy woven through it. The impression is that, working within the confines of the recorded tracks, Roberts’ choreography is stretched to serve the score rather than the music serving his choreography, the result being an occasional lack of urgency.

All the main classic characters familiar to fans of Franc Roddam’s 1979 film are there, Paris Fitzpatrick is eminently watchable as the troubled Jimmy while Dan Baines impresses as The Face, as does Serena McColl as The Mod Girl, but truth be told this is an ensemble piece and the ensemble is imposing.

Mod motifs are there in abundance too, the RAF roundel, the sharp suits, Italian scooters, hip shoes, Parkers jackets with their ‘fox fur’ collars, and Purple Hearts all receive a reference – in the case of the Mods’ drug of choice, in the shimmering form of Amaris Gilles, whose character is indeed called Drugs.

The opening and closing scenes aside, The Battle of Brighton, when it comes, is brutal and an exhausting watch as the production builds to a heart-stopping climax. Another highlight of the production worth a shout out is Jimmy’s Dad’s World War II flashback that hits with visceral force, never more so than at the sounding of ‘The Last Post’, a painfully evocative moment and a sobering reminder in these troubled times of a previous generation lost to war.

Quadrophenia, A Mod Ballet may be a tale of a generation now in their seventies and eighties, but it equally speaks to every generation since. It’s a universal story worth revisiting, especially when done as spectacularly as this.

Runs at Edinburgh Festival Theatre until Saturday 14 June. Tickets here.

Tour details and tickets here.