Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake at the Theatre Royal Nottingham Review

Reviewed by Nigel Chester

The Theatre Royal in Nottingham once again provided the backdrop for the ultimate night out; it is a beautiful venue, completed in 1865, boasting a classical façade and Corinthian columns and having a capacity of 1186 seats: last night, every one of those seats were occupied for a sell-out performance of Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake.

First staged in 1995, it has become a modern dance classic, brought to us by New Adventures Productions.

Having watched the 1994 animated children’s movie, the Swan Princess and listened to Tchaikovsky’s score, I thought I had an idea of what I was about to see; nothing could have prepared me for this. My first misconception was that Bourne used an all-male troupe, not true as a large proportion of the dancers are female and their input into the story is significant.

The Queen (Nicole Kabera) is a mature role, cold and unfeeling to her only child, the Prince (Liam Mower), she is demanding and flirtatious to the young men who take her fancy. The Girlfriend (Katrina Lyndon) is a perfect tragicomedy, young, naïve, fun and gullible, and her gullibility ultimately leads to our Prince contemplating suicide, this takes him to the public park where he sees the swans, initially watching them, then interacting with them. The whole of act two is taken up by this scene, a multitude of male swans who with bare chests and feet, become a bevy of swans, they’re mesmerising, at one point I realised that I needed to breathe!

The swans, the Prince’s relationship with the principal swan (Max Westwell) and his ultimate condemnation by the rest of the herd, are the pivot of our story, but this is a play with so much more; we had, maids and servants, nobles, club goers, a bag lady, photographers, autograph hunters, Spanish dancers and nurses, all played by members of the company, the highlight of the surrounding story being the royal entourage attending the performance of the Moth Ballet – this little production is comically over the top, however, it has every small girls dream encompassed within it, the prettiest tutus, the most perfect pirouettes, the longest moments en-pointe. It was almost a split-screen moment, not knowing whether to watch the Royal family’s reaction to the girlfriend’s behaviour, or the ballet.

We are also transported to a seedy nightclub – Swank, the advertisement for Swan Vesta Matches, brilliantly placed during this scene – all perception was lost, and the stage appeared to tilt, a fabulous optical illusion.

Bourne’s production overloaded your senses so completely, visually all consuming, then the music of Tchaikovsky, filling any remaining space in your brain – it lifts you to a place rarely visited.

As the curtain fell, the capacity audience rose to their feet and the standing ovation lasted for several minutes. On the way out, the chatter was excited, but the word “Amazing” was on everyone’s lips.

Rating: 5/5

Tickets cost from £20 to £45 (booking fees may apply).

Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake is at the Theatre Royal in Nottingham from 13-17 November 2018, for more information or to book tickets visit www.trch.co.uk or call the box office on 0115 989 5555.

Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall, Theatre Square, Nottingham, NG1 5ND