After watching The Nutcracker for the past two Christmases, I jumped at the chance to watch Swan Lake at the Lowry this week.
I had always wanted to watch a ballet by the artistic director Matthew Bourne as he has been widely hailed as the UK’s most popular and successful choreographer and director.
His production of Swan Lake did not disappoint when it graced the Lowry as part of its 30th anniversary UK tour.
Accompanied with Tchaikovsky’s classical tunes, Bourne’s ballet captivated the audience throughout the show as we watched wide-eyed in awe of the beautiful set design, costumes and – most importantly – the dancers.
Swan Lake is a tale well-known but Bourne spins it on its head by having the traditionally female parts of the swans danced by men.
In this production, the Prince (Stephen Murray) is struggling with his futile royal duties and finds himself lonely and unloved – his repressive mother (Ashley Shaw) is uninterested in her son’s neediness.
After finding out his potential love interest, the new girlfriend (Byrony Wood), was set up by the Private Secretary (Benjamin Barlow Bazeley), the Prince goes to the lake to end it all.
It is at this lake, however, where he meets the mysterious swan (Jackson Fisch) which eventually leads to tragedy and loss.
The relationship between Murry and Fisch is transfixing – they attract and repel each other until the very end. Their pas de deux was particularly captivating.
The swans were enchanting – their simple costumes and facial paint were extremely effective and enhanced the synchronicity of their ballet steps.
Bourne’s ballet is dark but there were also moments which had the audience laughing out loud.
A small electronic corgi gave the crowd the giggles early on. This was followed by an excellent performance from Wood as the Prince’s girlfriend who did not know how to behave at the opera.
Sitting next to the Queen, Wood committed the almighty sin of forgetting to put her phone on silent. But she took it one step further by answering the call and interrupting the whole metafictional performance.
This move became even more funny when the girlfriend next whipped out a bag of Maltesers, from her sparkly handbag, and attempted to share them with the royal box.
It was no surprise that the Lowry was a full house for Bourne’s Swan Lake. In fact, in spite of the theatre’s strict ticket policy on arriving late, they still allowed late-comers in.
Ten minutes into Tchaikovsky and the tardy people had caused two whole rows to stand, blocking the view of some audience members and inevitably leading to mass grunts and sighs.
Nevertheless, by the end, the audience were all in agreement that Bourne’s Swan Lake was a spectacle.
A long, standing ovation was given to the dancers who had entertained, moved and shocked us for over two beautiful hours.
You can catch Bourne’s ballet at the Lowry as part of its UK tour until Saturday 30 November.
Image Credit: Johan Persson (photos from a previous production)
