Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty

Synopsis

Perrault's timeless fairy tale, about a young girl cursed to sleep for one hundred years, was turned into a legendary ballet by choreographer, Marius Petipa, in 1890. Bourne takes this as his starting point, setting the Christening of Aurora, the story's heroine, in the year of the ballets first performance; the height of the Fin-de-Siecle period when fairies, vampires and decadent opulence fed the gothic imagination. As Aurora grows into a young woman, we move forwards in time to the more rigid, uptight Edwardian era; a mythical golden age of long summer afternoons, croquet on the lawn and new dance crazes. Years later, awakening from her century long slumber, Aurora finds herself in the modern day; a world more mysterious and wonderful than any Fairy story! Matthew Bourne's haunting new scenario is a gothic tale for all ages; the traditional tale of good vs. evil and rebirth is turned upside-down, creating a supernatural love story, across the decades, that even the passage of time itself cannot hinder.

Our Review:

14 November 2012

Director/choreographer and visionary Matthew Bourne has brought his production of Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty to the Lowry. Billed as 'A Gothic Romance' the tagline gives you the first clue that this might not be a traditional staging of the ballet.

This production is a stunning visual feast for the eyes and a tugger of heartstrings. Everything in it is beautifully thought out and lovingly created. The baby Aurora is one of the most entrancing puppets I have seen on stage and is cleverly manipulated to seem real.

The young couple Princess Aurora (Hannah Vassallo) and her gamekeeper lover Leo (Dominic North) are sheer perfection, both with their dancing and with the emotion they create. Aurora is protected by the King of the Fairies (Christopher Marney) but even he cannot protect her from the curse of Carabosse, the dark fairy, and her son Caradoc (both played by Ben Bruce). The battle between good and evil is remarkably played out between these two su...

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Latest User Review

Kath Thompson - 17 November 2012:

Fabulous interpretation of the classical ballet, dancing faultless - just wish the "baby" had taken her bow at the end! A terrific night out...

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