By: Wendy Sheard
Matthew Bourne and New Adventures The Red Shoes feels like opening a box of delights and uncovering layer upon layer of marvellous and magnificent treats, each one seemingly better than the previous one!
This is a retelling Hans Christian Andersen’s classic and the 1948 film by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, both of which inform and influence this performance. There are lots of interesting side notes to enjoy; vignettes of human behaviour, comedic and dramatic moments which sit comfortably alongside darker and more sinister elements.
The Red Shoes introduces us to the complex lives of performers in a touring company. We see their performances both in front of an audience as well as the hidden, mysterious world, which takes place behind the curtain, in the wings and out of sight. The intricacies of living and working so closely together are depicted; we see tightly woven relationships, dependency and the power of love, control, jealousy and rejection.
We meet amongst others, Boris Lermontov a ballet impresario, who is wonderfully and menacingly portrayed by Reece Causton; Victoria Page, a talented ballet dancer and the rising star of the company, beautifully performed by Ashley Shaw as well as the composer, Julian Craster, depicted by Leonardo McCorkindale who brilliantly expresses his internal conflict and the creative challenges his character faces.
Victoria and Julian are madly in love, and we follow them and the rest of the company as they tour London, Paris and Monte Carlo; along the way we see how Victoria is seduced by the red ballet shoes. She wants and desires them; she places her ambition above the love she has for Julian; and this is her downfall. She has to choose, and her choice is the shoes, the marvellous red shoes which keep her on her toes, dancing, always dancing, even to the point of exhaustion.
And this is here where the creativity and talent of the New Adventures team blends and complement each other; lighting, music, costume and film combine effortlessly to transport us to the late 1940s. There are the stylized monochrome sets, busy and bustling street scenes, sophisticated end of season parties, beach scenes with bathing beauties as well as an East End music hall and so much more.
The musical composition has echoes of the Powell and Pressburger film score; unsettling tempos are used to reflect the emotional struggle Victoria experiences when wearing the red shoes. The lighting, adding a sense of drama which combined with the video projections enhance the essence of being out of control and time passing far too, quickly; a stark reminder of the conflict of pursuing dreams to the exclusion of everything else.
An understanding of the story would have helped and guided me through this amazing and compelling production but even without it, this tale, woven through the centuries, from the original Hans Andersen story, the 1948 film, to this adaptation is a marvel, enticing and challenging all of our senses at every turn.
Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes is a masterful blend of dance and storytelling, an unmissable experience for anyone who enjoys ballet, passion, and theatrical innovation.