Edward Scissorhands

Synopsis

In the gothic fairy tale, an eccentric inventor dies before completing his latest creation, a boy who, left with only scissors for hands, must find his own way in a strange suburban world. A new adaptation of the classic Tim Burton motion picture.

Our Review:

10 December 2008

It’s not so easy to high-five with knives, but the scything gestures and cutting shapes of hand movements in Matthew Bourne’s glorious fairytale suggest a communal dance relationship between the hand-sheared boy and the suburban neighbourhood of regular 1950s citizenry.

Bourne’s 2005 show – returning to the Wells for a Christmas season after a long tour – is both loyal and imaginatively responsive to Tim Burton’s 1990 movie. The story is a sort of flashback, but Peg Boggs – Dianne Wiest in the film – is not an Avon lady, and the inventor is interrupted by Halloween hooligans in the Gothic mansion, expiring of shock.

Whereas Burton creates a stunning pastel-coloured “Pleasantville” on the doorstep of the mansion, Bourne and designer Lez Brotherston let rip in a harsher, more physical environment of sports days, political rallies and seasonal celebrations. At the Christmas ball, the stage pulsates with an ensemble swing band routine. After the fatal showdown with Kim Boggs’...

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RoflReviews - 3 July 2009:

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