A reimagining of a children’s classic is being brought to Manchester by Ballet LORENT and one of television’s most recognisable faces.
Actor Ben Crompton and Newcastle based Ballet LORENT will perform the last date, for now, of their conception of The Velveteen Rabbit, at Z Arts, in Hulme on February 8th.
Stockport-born Crompton said: “It’s a very gentle piece. We’ve made it for a family friendly audience.”
The actor, who is best known for Game of Thrones and Ideal, narrates the show. He described it as dance theatre for all as opposed to traditional ballet and explained that it’s fronted by a five strong cast playing multiple roles.
They take the audience on a journey with the main boy character when he returns to his childhood home as an adult thus resuming some of his adventures with the rabbit.
The 51-year-old added: “This is something that is easily accessible and has a lot of warmth and immediacy about it.”
Ben said Ballet LORENT has always been about making the work accessible to all and the company has taken the show to smaller towns and not only to major cities.
The actor explained that The Velveteen Rabbit is predominantly about the visuals and that’s the area of expertise of Ben’s partner at work, and in life, Liv Lorent MBE.
Honoured for her services to dance, Lorent is the CEO and founder of Ballet LORENT which she created more than three decades ago.
Ben gave an artistic analogy to sum up the collaboration which has actually been going for over 16 years.
Crompton said: “I make sure there’s a clear tent pole to the story that the audience knows where we’re at – and then Liv has this broad canvas in which she paints this beautiful picture of the dancers.”
He added: “Liv works on a visual medium inspired by what the dancers can offer.”
With costumes designed by Nasir Mazhar the production features familiar characters like the skin horse and the timeless theme of how toys manage to become real once they’re loved properly by a child.
Younger members of the audience are positioned front and centre for the magical playroom adventure and musical composition is provided by Murray Gold along with contributions from Ben and Liv’s son, Albie Crompton.
There are moments of interaction too particularly with the company’s community knitting group on hand to craft props like carrots which children can feed the characters at the end of the performance.
It’s not Ballet LORENT‘s first fairytale production and some of them, including The Velveteen Rabbit, have been captured on film which can be seen online and on pay per view services.
However, Ben said: “Nothing beats seeing it live. It’s definitely worth coming down to.”
Tickets and information about the Manchester performances on February 8th can be found here.
Feature image courtesy of Ballet LORENT
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