Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty

Matthew Bourne has built an international reputation on modernising the Ballet. Perhaps the most famous example being his all male version of Swan Lake. So how has he re-imagined the fairytale of Sleeping Beauty for the 21st century? Words that spring to mind are awesome, entertaining, and breathtaking.

This was two hours of ballet that kept the audience on the edge of their seats. We follow Princess Aurora from birth to that fateful pricking, then after intermission, her awakening, kidnapping and onto the big finish. Bourne artfully weaves the traditional details in with modern touches. In effect, he makes it new.

The plot has undergone some changes and there is the odd twist you won’t see coming. Acts One and Two take place in a Tsarist style kingdom, with sets that are all Ruritanian garden parties and palatial chambers. Acts Two and Four come right up-to-date with selfie-snapping tourists and a rather sleazy nightclub.

The dancing is a blend of traditional ballet moves with modern gestures. You know, all that thrusting, rolling on the floor and weird stances that have become associated with Bourne’s oeuvre. It’s a blend that is seamless.  

The sets and costumes are dazzling. In the special effects department, there are a series of doll-like puppets used to represent the baby princess. The puppets very nearly steal the show and provide a fair few laughs. And there are plenty of humorous touches from the live cast members too.

The dancers are flawless, with that balletic combination of strength and grace that is so amazing to we lesser mortals. Furthermore, without uttering a word they must act out the story using body language and facial expressions alone. And yet the fateful pricking scene was so touching it brought a few tears to the stalls.

Adam Maskell dragged up to play the evil fairy and then later her equally wicked son. He excelled in the brooding and sinister stakes. Dominic North was extremely well cast as the teenage gardener and held the audience’s sympathy throughout. Ashley Shaw made an first-rate Aurora. This being a ballet production casting may vary from night to night. 

Although more fairytale than gothic fantasy, the keen-eyed theatregoer might spot the occasional hint of something more disturbing. What did the bored villain, holed up in the palace for a century, get up to with the comatose princess?

So a roaring success. Two hours of dance that flew past. A triumph of the imaginative and the innovative. All performed, of course, to one of the most famous musical scores in history. Now what would Tchaikovsky think of updating one of his greatest compositions? No doubt he’d be spinning in his grave. Spinning with delight.

Sleeping Beauty, Nottingham’s Theatre Royal, Tuesday 19 to Saturday 23 April 2016.

Review by Ian Douglas