28 February – 4 March

The thing about fairytale princesses is that they are, pretty much universally, teenagers; equally and conventionally with all the angst and rebelliousness common to the breed usually elided. Matthew Bourne’s Aurora (Katrina Lyndon) is just such a one as gives her parents the heebie-jeebies. Her heart lies on the other side of the tracks, or more accurately, in the grounds of the palace, in the shape of Leo, the royal gamekeeper (Rory MacLeod). This is a love story through time.

For those familiar with Mr Bourne’s work it will come as no surprise to find the bad fairy Carabosse being played by a man (Ben Brown). But this is no mere artistic whim; his silent scream of anger at the christening party reverberated around the vast auditorium and said more than a voiced howl ever could. One might imagine Mr Brown’s thoroughly gothick bad fairy making for the nearest dungeon with her acolytes, having said her piece to stunned the party.

The gothick/steam punk costumes of Lez Brotherston dress the story as much as the dancers; each layered swirl and tailored shape adding to the moment and the theatrical experience. And his settings provide a thoroughly believable Ruritania in which Aurora could indeed break the shackles of convention and marry outside the nobility.

Above all it is Mr Bourne’s imaginative retelling of the story through dance and movement that leaves its mark in the memory. Never a cliché movement; despite this being the tenth anniversary production all the choreography seems newly minted to serve Tchaikovsky’s music and the well defined characters. From the formality of an Edwardian garden party in the grounds of the palace where Aurora is subjected to the attentions of the dark and mysterious Caradoc (Ben Brown again) son of Carabosse, to the eroticism of dancing, semi-clad, in the birch wood by moonlight and the exuberant pas de deux at the end of act one, the mood and style of dance is constantly changing.

Then, leaving his mark on the retelling of the story, the good fairy, Count Lilac, king of the fairies (Paris Fitzpatrick) is, it turns out, a vampire who infects the gamekeeper in the time honoured way, thus enabling him to span the one hundred years of Aurora’s suspended animation.

One of the many impressive things about this production is that the dancers are in character all the time and never just hang around waiting for their turn to dance. It makes for a thoroughly theatrical experience. With the clever puppetry, mood setting lighting and unobtrusive sound design this production is a coming together of the talents to bring new life to Tchaikovsky’s score and new vistas to the art of dance.

★★★★★ Graham Wyles, 1st March, 2023

Photo credit: Johan Persson