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Car Man Bourne Forms New Creative Outfit

Matthew Bourne, the acclaimed director behind Adventures In Motion Pictures (AMP), has formed a new company to create stage and film projects. Bourne, who worked alongside Katharine Dore on such projects as The Car Man (pictured), will now be Artistic Director of an outfit named New Adventures.

The aim of Bourne's new team will be to produce, or co-produce, a wide range of works including large and small-scale theatre presentations, plus original film and television offerings. Bourne, however, looks likely to remain as Artistic Director of AMP despite recent rumours that he and Dore had ended their working relationship.

Dore remains committed to AMP, who plan to continue touring extensively under her management. The difference would seem to be now that Bourne's personal original work will be made for his own company. He has also worked in a freelance capacity recently, on the version of My Fair Lady currently playing at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

Bourne's freelance career will extend further when he teams up again with director Trevor Nunn for the National's South Pacific this December. He is also developing a stage production for Walt Disney Theatricals based on the animated classic The Little Mermaid. Elsewhere, Channel 4 are set to screen a film version of AMP's The Car Man, filmed at Pinewood Studios, around Christmas 2001. A documentary entitled Bourne To Dance, portraying the artist's career, will be shown in addition.

Commenting on his future, Bourne said: “I am tremendously excited by the freedom and opportunity that this new company represents for me. I chose the name New Adventures because of its combination of an obvious link with the past, and the promise of exciting things to come.” Bourne’s links with the Old Vic (he is Associate Director) will continue via a shared office space at the venue, and he has expressed his gratitude to them.

AMP was founded by Bourne and Dore in 1987, and quickly established a reputation for invigorating, often racy versions of classic dance pieces. Their works include the Olivier-nominated The Car Man, The Nutcracker, Highland Fling and Swan Lake. The company is based in the West End from where Dore will maintain the business structure. Bourne, who is currently in America, will shortly be negotiating with the National Theatre to launch an AMP production at the RNT next summer, as part of the Transformations season.

- by Gareth Thompson

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