Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake

YAY ! A marvellous show here's my Sydney Arts Guide review http://www.sydneyartsguide.com.au/matthew-bournes-swan-lake-at-sydneys-theatre-royal/The swans have triumphantly returned to Sydney in this touring revival of MATTHEW BOURNE’S SWAN LAKE which has just opened for a short season at the Theatre Royal. Readers might already be familiar with this ground breaking version now regarded as a modern iconic classic. This is the production with the deeply troubled Prince , the ditzy unsuitable girlfriend, the corgis and the ‘Moth ‘ ballet. It is also now famous for its male swans and the role of the Swan/Stranger, as first created and performed by Adam Cooper. Bourne’s production amounts to a radical reworking of this much loved ballet that turns ‘ traditional versions upside down while retaining allusions to some of the ‘traditional ‘ Petipa /Ivanaov choreography. It has a huge emotional impact.Tchaikovsky’s score has been rearranged slightly and as this is a touring version recorded music was used. This iconic revival is fairly similar to the original 1995 version , although Bourne has tweaked and added/deleted bits, to clarify the story. It features the wonderful Lez Brotherston costumes, and smooth swift scene changes, almost cinematic….Some moments/scenes were played for laughs, unexpectedly. There were plenty of incisive observations about the restricted lives of royalty and fun in jokes with the corgis. Ballet history is also gently parodied in the delightful spoof ‘Moth Ballet ‘ , the music for which is usually used for a pas de trois in Act 1. The ensemble of male swans was superb in their now familiar shaggy feathered leggings and black nose and eye makeup. At times they were heavy, vicious and dangerous,– you could hear the slap of their feet and their arms sometimes. They hissed, spat and pecked. At other times they appeared as glorious sculptures,or undulating seaweed. The finale is shattering. The ensemble in Act 1 as maids, footmen, and in Act 3 at the ball ( or should one say orgy?)as various assorted courtiers were superb performing Bourne’s formal, stylized choreography very elegantly. As the torn, repressed Prince Chris Marney was stunning. He looks perhaps a little like a young Paul Mercurio. Are the swans just fantasies in his imagination? He dances magnificently with a glorious elegant ‘line’ and acts well too. Chris Trenfield as the Swan was superb,- fluid, with flurried glorious soft yet powerful jumps, feral yet tender and mysterious with a touch of other-worldliness. He was inviting yet simultaneously pushing away the Prince. However, as the Stranger in Act 3 ( the big ballroom scene), whilst he danced brilliantly I am afraid he just lacked that something magical. The Queen, icy and elegant , at times terrifying was brilliantly performed by Stephanie Billers. The tall, leggy bubbly blonde Girlfriend here looks like Botticelli’s Venus. Anjali Mehra plays her as a delightful giggler who can’t believe her luck but all ends tragically. The tall ,extremely thin manipulating Private Secretary was menacingly played by Edd Mitton (in obviously fake beard and makeup, a Abraham Lincoln look alike). This was a thrilling production that was greeted, at the end, with a wonderful standing ovation. MATTHEW BOURNE’S SWAN LAKE is playing the Theatre Royal Sydney until Sunday 2nd November.