Review: The Car Man at The Bristol Hippodrome - September 2026
Posted on: 02 Sep 2026Vivienne Kennedy reviews Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man at The Bristol Hippodrome, where it runs until Saturday 5 September.
I’ve yet to watch a Matthew Bourne production I haven’t thoroughly enjoyed, and The Car Man is no exception. It has everything needed to be awarded a well-deserved five stars.
Described on the programme cover as ‘Bizet’s Carmen re-ignited’, the action takes place not in a Spanish cigarette factory but in a 1960s garage-diner in the mid-western American town of Harmony, population 375. It’s a town so small that the arrival of a stranger, especially a handsome and enigmatic one, is going to stir things up.
The story takes place over a nine-month period and involves lust, fate, murder, injustice, and revenge. If I’m being totally honest, I don’t always find it super easy to follow, but that’s a me problem, I get the main points and it’s so beautifully performed by the New Adventures company, led at this performance by Ashley Shaw as Lana and Harrison Dowzell as Luca, that it doesn’t matter if I miss a nuance or two!
Note: Had I read the excellent visual guide, available on the ATG website, before arriving at the theatre, rather than after I got home, I would’ve found it much easier! You’ll also find an audio-described trailer, sonic story, and light map on the website.
I can’t list the full cast, much as each and every one of them deserves a shout out, but feel I must mention Anna-Maria de Freitas, Leonardo McCorkindale, and Adam Galbraith, playing Rita, Angelo, and Dino respectively - they are all fabulous.
The choreography is exquisitely precise, every movement so carefully controlled and placed; it looks as if it takes a lot of strength to carry off well. I particularly enjoy the big ensemble numbers, some of which remind me very much of West Side Story.
The music is by Terry Davis and features Rodion Shchedrin’s Carmen Suite, a short composition (approximately 45 minutes) created in 1967 for a Bolshoi ballet his wife was to star in. It is very recognisable (listen out for Habanera and The Toreador Song) but also quite different from the original (brass and woodwinds removed, the focus on strings and percussion). Shchedrin described his suite as ‘a creative meeting of the minds’, and Davis has added to it seamlessly.
Lez Brotherston’s set and costume designs are perfect. The set, which the audience can get a good look at before the show starts, is very detailed, there’s a lot to see, but it’s never overwhelming and doesn’t detract from the action. Chris Davey’s lighting enhances the design and guides your eyes to where you need to focus next.
I enter the Bristol Hippodrome with high expectations and leave with them having been exceeded, already hoping Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures will be back soon; whatever production they bring, whether it’s a revival or something new, I know I will want to see it. And, if you’ve got chance this week, I highly recommend booking a ticket for The Car Man (and reading the previously mentioned visual guide first).
Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man runs at the Bristol Hippodrome until Saturday 5 September with performances at 7.30pm each evening plus matinees at 2.30pm on Thursday and Saturday. For further information and to buy tickets, visit The Bristol Hippodrome website here.
Age guidance: The recommended age is 15+. The production contains scenes of a sexual nature - including sexual assault, brief male nudity (frontal), smoking, strobe lighting, haze and gunshots. There are also scenes of a violent nature that include blood.