The Lowry Archives - Page 5 of 9 - UPSTAGED MANCHESTER

REVIEW – Kite (The Lowry Theatre, Salford)

February 20, 2016kristobel

Upstaged Rating:

Thingstars:

Kite is a stunningly beautiful and inventive play from Devon based theatre company The Wrong Crowd. No spoken words are needed in this highly visual production, instead delightful puppetry, an enchanting soundtrack and movement bring the story of a young girl and her kite to life.

Following her mother’s death, a little girl (Charlotte Croft) is transported from her home in a seaside town to live with her grandmother (Liz Crowther) in a small flat in London. Lonely and heavy hearted, her memories of the life she used to know and the environment around her begin to fade away. Until one magical night, she finds a handmade kite and patching up a hole in the wing, the two embark on a wild adventure together.

Thing 2 was gripped by the performance, his eyes darting to follow the wonderful kite flying about the stage. He even moved to sit on the stairs to get a better view of the action, reaching his hands out to try and reach the kite as it flew high above.

Kite is so pleasingly pretty and well-thought out – delicate choreography is balanced with striking imagery by performers Linden Walcott-Burton and Nicola Blackwell. With slick scene changes and clever lighting design, the performers reconfigure designer/ director Rachel Canning’s set to create a train carriage, a heavily packed tube and a small kitchen. Isobel Waller-Bridge’s atmospheric soundscape is perfectly suggestive for a young audience, fusing original spellbinding music with ambient sound.

A real highlight of the hour-long show comes towards the end of the production when puppets of the little girl and her grandmother dance along a beautifully lit backdrop of the London skyline.

Taking some of its inspiration from The Snowman and The Red Balloon, Kite is unpretentious and thoughtful – a wondrous example of children’s theatre. Each show also includes a post-show meet-up with the cast and their puppets. Little smiley faces and sparkly eyes greeted the performers, as the young audience were given the chance to see the puppets and talk to the performers about their show.

Throw caution to the wind and see Kite this weekend. It’ll be like a breath of fresh air on an otherwise rainy day in Salford.

-Kristy Stott

Kite runs at the Lowry Theatre in Salford until Sunday 21 February 2016.

To find out more about The Wrong Crowd Theatre Company and national tour dates for Kite please click here.

REVIEW – Chip Shop Chips (The Hub in Salford/ The Lowry)

February 19, 2016kristobel

Upstaged Rating:

There is a real hustle and bustle at The Hub, a Salford community centre, for Box of Tricks’ new production. Chip Shop Chips is a play with a difference – it’s fusion between theatre and food, dining and performance – tables are laid out with red and white check tablecloths and the audience sit around drinking tea out of polystyrene cups waiting for their fish supper. There is a warm, nostalgic atmosphere and a feeling of community as strangers strike up conversations with each other and share memories of their local chippy.

It’s the grand reopening of Booth and Sons Fish & Chip Shop – the new ‘cod’ on the block and the new ‘plaice’ to be, or so Eric Booth hopes. Following the death of his father, 60-year-old Eric (Russell Richardson) returns home to take over the family chip shop business. Surely, with hardworking chippy apprentice Lee (Ben-Ryan Davies) by his side, nothing can go wrong? However, when Eric’s first love Christine (Julie Edwards) walks in unexpectedly to the big opening night with her granddaughter Jasmine (Jessica Forrest), he is completely thrown. Over forty years have passed and neither are living the lives that they imagined that they would. Aside from the smell of salt and vinegar, there is also young love in the air as Lee and Jasmine, who remember each other from high school, explore the feelings of teenage romance.

Director Adam Quayle makes full use of the whole performance space and as the gripping story of family and love unfolds in the chip shop, the audience become Eric’s customers, adding to the intimacy of the performance. There is an opportunity to take part in a chippy quiz, share your chip shop story and craft a hat out of newspaper. All of these activities are cleverly woven into the main narrative; sadly, in a room full of people rustling paper to make a hat, it was disappointing to see some of Becky Prestwich’s wonderful dialogue lost. However, with more experience in front of a live audience, this can be easily worked on. What makes this production so appealing is that Box of Tricks have really challenged themselves and produced an immersive show with a lot of heart.

Jessica Forrest and Julie Edwards -CSC-Dress-HE4A1942-WEB — Jessica Forrest and Julie Edwards in Chip Shop Chips Photo credit: Lucas Smith

The mouth-watering chippy set by designer Katie Scott provides the perfect backdrop for the brilliant cast of four. Julie Edwards gives a powerful performance as the shaky handed and lonely widow Christine, looking for one last adventure. Jessica Forrest shines as granddaughter Jasmine, intelligent and funny – her one liners had the audience in stitches. Russell Richardson is also strong as chip shop owner Eric, a jolly frontman for the business while balancing his inner grief. Ben-Ryan Davies warms as the supportive chip shop worker, tugging at our heart strings as the illiterate but kind-hearted Lee.

Chip Shop Chips is a fabulous show for everyone – those who are new to theatre and those seasoned theatre goers. It’s a superb evening and a joyous trip down memory lane, celebrating love through the ages and the nations favourite food.

-Kristy Stott

Chip Shop Chips is touring until 23rd March 2016 and you can see all tour dates and purchase tickets here.

REVIEW – The Girls (The Lowry)

January 20, 2016kristobel

The Girls at The Lowry, Salford © John Swannell — The Girls at The Lowry, Salford
© John Swannell

Date: 19 January 2016

Upstaged Rating:

Get a ticket and go and see The Girls. It is a phenomenal production. A thunderous applause and a well deserved standing ovation greeted the passionate performers and production crew on the press night. Being able to witness everybody around you in the stalls leap to their feet, cheering and clapping is a rare occurrence and a worthy testimony to show how fabulous The Girls really is. Just go.

The Girls is a heartwarming, super charming and quintessentially English new musical inspired by the true story of Yorkshire’s real Calendar Girls – a group of Women’s Institute members who, in memory of one of their husbands, produce a nude calendar to raise money for Leukaemia Research. This new musical charts the journey of a group of ordinary ladies as they achieve something incredible and explores the effect that their strength has on everyone around them.

The writing collaboration between the master of popular songwriting, Gary Barlow and Tim Firth who wrote the film and the play for Calendar Girls, is a perfect recipe for success. Add some outstanding performers to the mix and you have a musical which is not only highly entertaining but one which fully connects with its audience. Hilarious and heartbreaking all at the same time, I spent most of Act 2 looking through a blur because my eyes were so teary from laughing and crying at the same time.

Robert Jones’ set design of olive green drawers and cupboards is suggestive of quaint, rural England. Providing the perfect canvas for the action to unfold, whether indoors or on a Yorkshire hill top, in this close-knit and supportive community.

Tim Firth, Gary Barlow & the original Calendar Girls credit Matt Crockett — The Original Calendar Girls ~The Girls at The Lowry, Salford~ – Credit Matt Crockett

This production is packed full of superb musical numbers with that unmistakeable Barlow hook, the lyrics are loaded with wit and most importantly we can relate to them. ‘Who Wants a Silent Night?’ is delivered with pizzazz by parish organist and single mother Cora (Claire Machin). Retired school teacher Jessie (Sara Kestelman) sings a poignant and uplifting ballad about growing older, ‘What Age Expects’ which was a highlight for me. With tunes so catchy and memorable many of the audience left humming and singing their way out of the theatre.

Joanna Riding is outstanding as Annie – putting on a brave face as her husband John (James Gaddas) battles against cancer. Their partnership on stage is believable and touching; humorous and real – providing the hope and inspiration for the calendar girls extraordinary triumph. Claire Moore gives an energetic, brave and brilliant performance as close friend Chris – she is immediately likeable, defiant and loyal – she is not afraid to speak out against the traditional Women’s Institute values, but she does so with humour and conviction which the audience laugh, clap and cheer along with.

The leader of the Women’s Institute Marie, played admirably by Harriett Thorpe, struggles to get the women to fall in line with her ideas. Ex air-hostess and golf enthusiast Celia played brilliantly by Vivien Parry and struggling alcoholic Ruth, played with expert timing by Debbie Chazen complete the line-up. The tightly woven sub-plot featuring Chris’ son Danny (Ben Hunter), love interest Jenny (Chloe May Jackson) and his best friend Tommo (Josh Benson) gives a further injection of comedy and shows the effect that the women’s bravery and influence can have on the younger generation.

The Girls is a fantastic musical – I really hope that it gets a well-deserved airing in the West End – but don’t just take my word for it – go see for yourselves.

-Kristy Stott

The Girls is at The Lowry until Saturday 30th January 2016 and you can get your tickets here.

REVIEW – The Little Match Girl (The Lowry)

January 17, 2016kristobel

The Little Match Girl at The Lowry, Salford

Date: 16 January 2016

Upstaged Rating:

When the tale of The Little Match Girl comes up in conversation it is met with smiles and nostalgia for being a poignant childhood story. Hans Christian Andersen’s original tale about child poverty in the 19th century can be a tough moral lump to swallow – the sad ending of The Little Match Girl remains etched in your mind. This charming dance adaptation by choreographer Arthur Pita is uplifting and beautiful and with an ending so magical, The Little Match Girl will leave you smiling as you wipe the tear from your eye.

The story is set on an icy Christmas eve in a fictional Italian city, little Fiammetta skips along the streets selling her matches. Cold and hungry, she meets good and bad people on her journey – those who take pity and give her a gold coin and those who steal it back from her along with her shoes. Left with only one match to keep her warm, Fiammetta’s body cannot fight the freezing cold anymore. In a heartwarming scene, her beloved Grandmother appears to guide her up through the starry sky to the moon.

Designer Yann Seabra’s snowy terrain quickly transforms into a magical lunar landscape, complete with astronaut and moon buggy. Cloaked and top-hatted Frank Moon provides the astonishing ethereal soundtrack – playing the lute, a violin and a music box amongst others. Arthur Pita’s direction keeps the audience gripped, telling the classic story with a good dose of humour and an outstanding attention to detail – pitched perfectly for the recommended age of five and over.

A cast of just four conduct swift costume changes to play a total of eleven characters. Corey Annand puts in a skilled and delicate performance as the forlorn match girl Fiammetta while Valentina Golfieri burns brightly as the brutish match boy and the haughty daughter of the wealthy Donnarumma family. Angelo Smimmo shows off a superb singing voice as the father of the Donnarumma family and as Fiammetta’s celestial grandmother. The towering figure of Karl Fagerlund Brekke completes the impressive lineup, taking on four diverse roles which include the astronaut and Mother Donnarumma.

With a running time of just one hour, Arthur Pita’s The Little Match Girl is ideal for little children’s big imaginations. However, I highly recommend this enchanting adaptation as a must-see for all ages – just perfect in every way.

-Kristy Stott

My Favourite Productions of 2015

December 23, 2015kristobel

My Favourite Productions of 2015

It has been an exciting year for Upstaged Manchester and I feel blessed and nostalgic as I remember the productions that have lifted my heart, helped me to question and generally captivated me this year. Here is a list of my theatrical highlights for 2015.

Yen at The Royal Exchange

I couldn’t shake this 2013 Bruntwood Prize Winner by Anna Jordan for quite a while – it left my mind doing somersaults. Jordan’s phenomenal writing and her vivid characters combined with Ned Bennett’s clever direction and Georgia Lowe’s sparse set design gave an unforgettable fusion of total brilliance.

Nirbhaya at The Contact Theatre

This brave, real and haunting piece of work, exploring the effect of the brutal attack that Jyoti Singh endured on board a bus in Delhi on December 16th 2012, stopped me in my tracks and left me speechless. A perfect example of the role that theatre has in spreading an important message and how art can bring about change.

Shooting With Light at The Lowry

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This is by far the best production I have ever seen in the Lowry Studio – slick choreography and an atmospheric soundscape. Idol Motion will certainly be a theatre company that I will be looking out for in 2016.

The Rolling Stone at The Royal Exchange

The Rolling Stone had me captivated – on the edge of my seat throughout. With outstanding performances from all, Chris Urch’s Bruntwood Prize Winner about the persecution of gay men in Uganda stays with you for a long time. I am so pleased that it is being performed at Orange Tree Theatre in January and February of 2016.

Boeing Boeing at Oldham Coliseum

I had never seen a farce done well – until I saw this version of Boeing Boeing directed by Robin Herford. An energetic production with an outstanding cast – their timing and delivery was impeccable. It really lifted my heart to see the performance propelled along by gasps, laughter and impromptu applause from the audience.

Beautiful Thing at The Lowry

The combination of Jonathan Harvey’s brilliant writing and Nikolai Foster’s intelligent direction managed to bring out every nuance in the script – I found myself noticing elements that I hadn’t fully appreciated in previous interpretations. This production felt like a celebration and a salute to how far rights for gay, lesbian and transgender people have come over the last 20 years, and a recognition that we still have a fair way to go.

Kafka’s Monkey at HOME

What an accomplished performer Kathryn Hunter is – such a rich tone and incredible physicality. Masterfully directed by Walter Meierjohann, I feel blessed to have witnessed a performance like this – this show certainly put Manchester’s new arts space HOME on the map.

Golem at HOME

A true theatrical spectacle and a perfect amalgam of animation, live performance, music and claymation. Golem was like nothing that I had ever seen before – sharp interaction between the performers, Paul Barritt’s eye-popping animation and Lillian Henley’s brilliant silent movie-esque score.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at The Lowry

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a tremendous piece of theatre – a perfect collaboration with outstanding performances throughout. Gripping and heartfelt – the perfect example of the power that theatre has to change the way that we view the world.

Wicked at The Lowry

Emily Tierney as Glinda & Ashleigh Gray as Elphaba. ©Matt Crockett

Well, I’m a big fan of Wicked and despite having seen the production before it just gets better and better for me every time. With magnificent music and lyrics, Wicked is a theatrical feast for your eyes, ears and hearts.

Merry Christmas to each and every one of you – thank you for all of your support this year.

Wishing you all the best in 2016.

-Kristy Stott

REVIEW – Hetty Feather (The Lowry, Salford)

December 20, 2015kristobel

Jacqueline Wilson's --Hetty Feather-- at The Lowry until 10 January 2016 © Copyright Helen Murray 2015 — Jacqueline Wilson’s
–Hetty Feather–
at The Lowry until 10 January 2016
© Copyright Helen Murray 2015

Upstaged Rating:

Thingstars:

“Only a few days old and lost everything – my home, my mother and my name”

Hetty Feather was left by her mother at the London Foundling Hospital as a newborn baby. Written by best-selling author Jacqueline Wilson, Hetty Feather traces the life and experiences of a foundling child – her experience in foster care, her dalliances with the travelling circus and her return into education at the Foundling Hospital. Hetty is a feisty little thing – kindhearted, intelligent and imaginative- we follow her story as she battles to overcome all odds in the search to find her real mother.

This Olivier Award nominated production is a real treat for the Quays Theatre at The Lowry this Christmas – with a talented and award-winning creative team and an energetic, tumbling and climbing ensemble of performers. Hetty Feather is a thrilling, emotional and uplifting story adapted for the stage by writer Emma Reeves and directed by Sally Cookson.

The stage is set as a circus tent and a real playground for the performers – there are red aerial silks, ropes and ladders – designer Katie Sykes has really created the perfect canvas for Jacqueline Wilson’s characters to somersault and shine. Before the show opens, Musicians Seamus H Carey and Luke Potter set the tone for the audience with their lively folk music and we are transported back to Victorian England.

Casting is perfect with Phoebe Thomas taking the title role of Hetty Feather, with her long fiery red hair she is captivating – playing a five-year-old with ease and layering Hetty’s difficult start in life with humour and defiance. All six performers show their versatility in playing a variety of roles – they enthrall with their fusion of storytelling, live music and circus skills. Sarah Goddard tugs at our heartstrings playing foster mother Peg and Ida; talented Matt Costain takes on the contrasting roles of warm-hearted foster brother Jem and stony-faced Matron Bottomly; Nikki Warwick earns hefty applause as the trapeze artist Madame Adeline with Nik Howden as Saul and Mark Kane as Gideon completing the dynamic line-up.

Hetty Feather is an imaginative and innovative production – a fabulous adventure packed with colourful characters, a lively musical score and captivating performances. With a running time of 2 hours and 10 minutes, it’s a superb treat for older children who are so often overlooked in quality children’s theatre. Hetty Feather is an outstanding entertainment choice this Christmas – giving us all of the fun of the circus as we squeal, gasp, quake and applaud in Hetty Feather’s journey to find her mother.

-Kristy Stott

Hetty Feather runs at the Lowry in Salford until 10 January 2016.

REVIEW – Mr Popper’s Penguins (The Lowry, Salford)

December 14, 2015kristobel

Upstaged Rating:

Thingstars:

Adapted from popular children’s book by Richard and Florence Atwater, Mr Popper’s Penguins is a festive theatrical treat for all of the family. The story proved its popularity back in 2011 when it was released as a feature film with Jim Carrey taking the title role. With music reminiscent of golden era MGM, romance and charming penguin puppetry, Mr Popper’s Penguins certainly lends itself brilliantly to being adapted as a musical for the stage.

Mr Popper (Russell Morton) is a painter and decorator and lives with Mrs Popper (Roxanne Palmer) in a small American suburb called Stillwater. Nothing really happens in Stillwater and Mr Popper has dreams of being an explorer in Antartica. Fascinated with the South Pole, spending every spare moment reading about it – he decides to pen a letter to his idol Admiral Drake, to tell him how wonderful he thinks penguins are.

Soon after Admiral Drake responds to the mailing by sending a huge penguin-sized crate by return – Mr and Mrs Popper’s predictable daily life takes a sudden but exciting change as they soon find themselves chasing a rookery of penguins around their home.

A super talented cast of four tell the succinct and highly entertaining story well – with performers Toby Manley and Lucy Grattan doubling up as puppeteers for the mischievous penguins Captain Cook and Greta, designed by Nick Barnes. Musical numbers composed by Luke Bateman and written by Richy Hughes are catchy and appeal to the young audience; there is a magical snow shower and a penguin dance that the whole auditorium can get involved with too.

Recommended for ages 3 and over, Mr Popper’s Penguins has the perfect running time of 55 minutes – just long enough to keep those creative little minds transfixed. If you look below the funny feathery surface there is also quite a heartwarming message for you to take away too – the importance of having dreams and how something totally unexpected can suddenly land and change the course of your life forever.

Mr Popper’s Penguins is a gorgeous family show and guaranteed to warm your cockles this winter.
-Kristy Stott

Mr Popper’s Penguins runs at the Lowry in Salford until 10 January 2016.

REVIEW – ballet LORENT – Snow White (The Lowry)

December 7, 2015kristobel1 Comment

balletLORENT -- Snow White © Kit Haigh — balletLORENT — Snow White
© Kit Haigh

UPSTAGED RATING:

Following the success of Rapunzel, balletLORENT are back with a striking adaptation of the Brothers Grimm classic, Snow White.

In a return to true Grimm style, there is no wicked stepmother – instead the evil queen is Snow White’s biological mother. Following the sudden death of the King, young Snow White and her mother have a close and loving relationship for a number of years. It isn’t until Snow White becomes a beautiful young woman and her widowed mother decides to look for another love, that problems begin to manifest.

In a witty, modern and practical approach, writer Carol Ann Duffy illustrates that the Queen’s youthful looks are attributed to surgery rather than magic. In a bid to secure a nearby suitor, the affected Queen sends a portrait of herself painted years earlier, which the Prince mistakes for Snow White. In a vicious turn, the Queen is overcome with envy and sets out to have her own daughter executed.

With the ominous sound of a clock ticking in the background, Liv Lorent’s choreography conjures up beautiful images of the passing of the seasons – the young dancers blowing white feathers like snowflakes and playfully skipping with kites through an autumnal breeze. Phil Eddolls’ set design of a huge lavish dressing table is suggestive of Snow White’s coming of age – the drawers being used to emerge and conceal baby, child and young woman; another speedy turnabout and the set becomes a leafy forest to protect Snow White from the Huntsman who has been sent to kill her.

In addition, a mysterious group of miners take the place of the seven dwarves – their bodies twisted due to the amount of time that they spend underground. They move to the soundtrack of industrial banging and clanging, their headlamps bouncing in the darkness of Malcolm Rippeth’s gothic lighting design.

Natalie Trewinnard gives a youthful, athletic and passionate vision as Snow White – the duet with Huntsman Gavin Howard is beautifully expressive – gentle and impassioned all at the same time. Gwen Berwick’s as The Mirror impresses en pointe in a duet with Caroline Reece’s malevolent Queen.

balletLORENT consistently produce high-quality dance productions which are suitable for all ages. With an emphasis on storytelling, this contemporary ballet of Snow White is a perfect introduction to dance and I will certainly be waiting for the next production in balletLORENT’s fairy tale trilogy.

-Kristy Stott

ballet LORENT’s Snow White is at the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh from 22nd – 23rd January 2016 before continuing the tour at Warwick Arts Centre in February. For more dates through 2016 please click here.

REVIEW – Lord of the Flies (The Lowry, Salford)

December 4, 2015kristobel

LORD OF THE FLIES © Johan Persson/ — LORD OF THE FLIES
© Johan Persson

Upstaged Rating:

The sound of crickets chirping and the steady beat of tribal drums give way to shrieking and chanting. Boys with shredded school uniforms, ties wrapped around their heads and faces smeared with blood dart about the stage. Tumbling through foliage, climbing up mountains – they hold roughly sharpened sticks as they hunt down their prey.

Written in 1954, Lord of the Flies is a novel by Nobel Prize-winning English author William Golding. The novel has become a staple text for many British school children and tells the story of a group of schoolboys who survive a catastrophic plane crash. What starts out as a desert island adventure quickly descends into a savage struggle for survival. In a habitat far from modern civilisation, these well-educated children regress to a primitive state.

Recommended for ages 11 and over, this sharp stage adaptation by Nigel Williams is gripping from beginning to end. With references to modern culture – instagram, reality TV shows and 3G – the language is fluid and succinct depicting the gangs merciless descent from island paradise into horror.

Jon Bausor’s crashed jet set design impresses, scattered components of the aircraft fill the stage allowing for the action to take place on multiple levels, creating the illusion of difficult terrain. Under Timothy Sheader’s extraordinary direction, the boys swing and scramble over the strewn luggage and plane parts in their vicious fight for power and survival. Stylised slow motion choreography gives the production a cinematic feel, perfectly creating pace and tension; Nick Powell’s superb soundscape intelligently fuses natural sounds of the wild with the noise of pure horror and decay.

The cast have an unbelievable abundance of talent between them – their energetic performances were nothing short of faultless. Particular mentions must go to Connor Brabyn as Jack, the savage chief of the gang and his rival – moral minded Ralph, played by Luke Ward-Wilkinson. Anthony Roberts’ performance as Piggy was also phenomenal – the gasps from the audience during his final speech were a clear testament.

This is easily one of the finest pieces of theatre that I have seen this year. I spent most of the performance perched on the edge of my seat. Most of the audience was made up of school children and with not a peep or snigger heard from them throughout – that is a sign of a superb production.

Go and see.

-Kristy Stott

Lord of the Flies is at The Lowry until Saturday 5th December. The tour then continues at the Theatre Royal in Bath from the 12th January to 16th January 2016. For more tour dates through 2016 click here.

REVIEW – Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty (The Lowry)

November 25, 2015kristobel1 Comment

Date: 24 November 2015

Upstaged Rating:

Matthew Bourne and New Adventures are back at The Lowry in Salford with a gothic reimagining of the classic fairytale Sleeping Beauty.

By Bourne’s own admittance the familiar story of Sleeping Beauty always left him ‘a little cold’ – understandably so – it is a tale about a Princess who spends most of her time asleep. Taking his inspiration from Tchaikovsky’s score and the original fairytale, Bourne plays with our expectations of the well-loved tale and adds further layers to the story, with a surprising twist and new characters – Sleeping Beauty is a faultless and magical production. Giving us all the visual clues that we need to experience the story in a new and refreshing way – there is no finer storyteller than Matthew Bourne.

Set to the backdrop of Tchaikovsky’s passionate and menacing score, Sleeping Beauty tells the love story of Princess Aurora and her one true love, the Royal Gamekeeper, Leo. However, their love story is cut short when the dark fairy, Carrabosse curses Aurora to sleep for a 100 years. Carrabosse’s son, Caradoc also has designs to wed the Princess – however, she can only be awoken by her true love’s kiss.

Sumptuous gold curtains frame the stage and footlights donning fairy wings cast their light up to the stunning movement. Lez Brotherston’s set and costume design is dreamlike and striking, transporting us through from the Victorian era to the Edwardian period and then the present day with ease.

There is an abundance of personality and humour from the outset as Bourne chooses not to depict Aurora as a babe in arms but a loveable and mischievous little beauty. Using clever puppetry, Aurora is given a strong identity from the very beginning bringing giggles from the audience.

As always with Matthew Bourne and New Adventures, the most striking feature is the individuality of the dancers and their outstanding talent as dynamic storytellers. Ashley Shaw shines as Princess Aurora, playful and dreamlike, with Chris Trenfield as her true love Leo – their pas de deux at the end of Act II is perfectly expressive of young love. Adam Maskell shows his versatility as a dancer playing both malevolent Carabosse and her sinister son, Caradoc. Led by Christopher Marney‘s Count Lilac, the winged fairies Mari Kamata, Cordelia Braithwaite, Leon Moran, Dena Lague and Liam Mower, complete a wonderful line-up – technically perfect – they perform with passion, wit and vivacity.

Once you have seen a Matthew Bourne production you become hooked and poised ready for the next. Following the well-deserved standing ovation and rapturous applause for Sleeping Beauty, Bourne hinted that he has a brand new production waiting in the wings. With a formal announcement to be made after Christmas – he did reveal that it will receive its premiere in Salford at The Lowry. I can’t wait.

-Kristy Stott

Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty is at The Lowry until Saturday 28th November.