Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake

Once again Matthew Bourne has hit the touring circuit with a feast for the eyes of all but the most jaded of palates and has proved that Leicester's Curve has room for culture as well as populist theater.
First off, let me lay to rest some misconceptions that even I, being almost unversed in the elitism of traditional ballet, was guilty of. There are no tutus (except in a spoof ballet within the show); there are no ballet pointes; and it is definitely not an all-male company. While the entire flock of swans are male, and much more menacing for it, a third of the cast are female, not drag!
I sort of expected this entire evening to consist of feather shedding, head-dressed swans flouncing around in badly faked reed beds while we, the audience, covertly tried to read the programme notes to find out what the hell the story was supposed to be. I should have known better after seeing Matthew's Dorian Gray recently.
The story is filled out from being just about the swans to give a whole raison d'etre for the Prince and the Swan's entanglement and ultimate parting. Dream sequences are masterfully created to nudge the story further along and comedy is cleverly dropped in to further break up the evening.
Especially noteworthy was the casting of Jonathan Olivier in the duel roles of The Swan and The Stranger. The Swan being all pack-leader and flirtatious coquette; The Stranger bleeding testosterone from the minute he walks onstage reminiscent of Rik Mayell's Lord Flashheart in Blackadder trying to shag everyone in the room. A great leading role that was certainly popular with audience.
Now we come to the staging! Why is it that some touring productions are either too lazy or too tight to stage things properly? Swan Lake, it has to be said, has scenery worthy of any West End production; floor to ceiling columns, huge set pieces of furniture and enough dazzling costumes to please any Priscilla audience! The Swans' costume were particularly ingenious given that using real feathers would be costly and easily damaged. Each of the Company of boys had several completely different sets of clothes but, pleasingly, each set of trousers were very well fitted.
As with all Matthew Bourne productions the cast are both beautiful and talented. The swan's chorus came on like Triga video stars and lived up to their chav-like potential in the finale when they went berserk.
At the end of the night the virtually full house was on its feet for several curtain bows before letting the cast slink off for a well deserved rest.

© Paul Towers 23/9/2010