Review of The Red Shoes at The Bristol Hippodrome

Posted on: 2017-04-05

Our rating:

This is ballet and musical theatre of the highest calibre.. A cosmic, effervescent, thrilling synergy of set design, dance and music, The Red Shoes is an unmissable, unforgettable theatrical experience. A modern masterpiece.


Pop quiz. What do you get when you cross one of the world's preeminent choreographers with one of the most iconic movies of all time? Answer: an utterly sublime, intoxicating theatrical masterpiece that has to rank as, not only one of the most exquisite shows you'll see all year, but a ballet which is unquestionably one of the best of all time. And if you're wise, you'll grab your ticket to see Matthew Bourne's incredible production of The Red Shoes, which runs at Bristol Hippodrome until Saturday 8th April 2019.

**Tickets for the March 2020 shows available here**

It takes a considerable, titanic talent such as choreographer Bourne to take on one of the most seminal, influential and revered movies of all time, in this case Powell and Pressburger's 1948 movie of the same name. It takes equally confident pluck and moxie to translate the story to the stage using music by legendary film composer, Bernard Herrmann. To say it works is one of the biggest understatements of the century. It's an enthralling synchronicity between dance spectacle and classic movie music; a magical fantasy, love triangle and tragedy that will vividly stay with you long after the cast have taken their final bows.

Matthew Bourne - The Red Shoes - Bristol Hippodrome

The story is relatively straightforward: ballerina Victoria Page (Ashley Shaw) lives only to dance, possessed to do so once she puts on the titular shoes. But her life becomes increasingly, irrevocably torn between her career and the charismatic but manipulative impresario Boris Lermontov (Sam Archer)  - who creates a new ballet especially for her - and the young composer Julian Craster (Chris Trenfield). The battleground is set then for the whole gamut of human emotions; a dizzying, pirouetting whirlwind of passion, jealousy, love, obsession, hate, anger, despair and desire. 

Lez Brotherston's set straddles effortless simplicity and understated complexity, revolving to reflect life in front of and behind the stage whilst also representing the duality of the ballerina's life; a stage-within-a-stage, art versus life, fantasy versus reality, the creative torment of the artist. It's a stunning, mesmerizing blend of eye-popping choreography; giddying, inventive set design (behind the scenes action, shadowy streets, beaches, a particularly transfixing sequence played against a backdrop of shimmering stars, and, of course, the ballet of The Red Shoes itself), enmeshed with perfect aural accompaniment. 

Matthew Bourne - The Red Shoes - Bristol Hippodrome

Which brings us to Bernard Herrmann's music, a composer best known for his work with Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock and who scored movies such as Psycho, Jason and the Argonauts, Vertigo and Taxi Driver.  Using excerpts from a selection of his scores - primarily Citizen Kane, The Ghost and Mrs Muir, Hangover Square and Fahrenheit 451  - is inspired; a sonic collage that adroitly juxtaposes dark, relentless strings with more ebullient, joyful scherzos and polkas and achingly beautiful interludes to skillfully depict the interchanging vortex of tones and emotions. It's music that fits the whole piece like a glove - or, in this case, a shoe.

This is ballet and musical theatre of the highest calibre; breathtaking, intoxicating, occasionally amusing, heartbreaking, exhilarating, tragic and compelling that positively overflows with goosebump-inducing visuals and imaginative narrative flourishes from one of the world's most accomplished choreographic storytellers. A cosmic, effervescent, thrilling synergy of set design, dance and music, The Red Shoes is an unmissable, unforgettable theatrical experience. A modern masterpiece. 

5/5

Matthew Bourne - The Red Shoes - Bristol Hippodrome



Article by:

Jamie Caddick

Jamie is a writer, blogger, journalist, critic, film fan, soundtrack nerd and all-round Bristolian good egg.  He loves the music of Philip Glass, the art of Salvador Dali, the writings of Charles Bukowksi and Hunter S Thompson, the irreverence of Harry Hill, and the timeless, straw-chomping exuberance of The Wurzels.  You can sometimes find him railing against a surging tide of passing cyclists, or gorging himself senseless on the Oriental delights of a Cosmos all-you-can-eat buffet.