Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake
Jan. 16th, 2010 10:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearI have wanted to see Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake ever since my first viewing of Billy Elliott nearly ten years ago. The final image of him playing the swan has stayed with me and intrigued me all these years - and, last night, I finally got the chance to assuage my curiosity. I read a friend's review of the show a week ago and immediately bought the penultimate stalls ticket for last night's performance - what turned out to be the best impulse purchase I've ever made.
I got to the theatre in plenty of time, after an extremely nice Malaysian meal at The Banana Tree up the road, to discover I had secured what was probably the best seat in the house. It was about half way back in the stalls, but directly behind the wheelchair spaces, so there was actually nobody directly in front of me, giving me a completely unrestricted view of the stage. And, boy, did I need that!
I think my only criticism of the show would be that there was often too much going on at once to be able to take it all in - several times I found myself missing parts of the main action because I was too busy watching what the people in the background were doing. The opening sections were funny, involving, vibrant, affecting and brilliantly staged, with the clearest portrayal of a plot I've ever seen in a ballet production.
Then, when they finally appeared, the swans were by no means a disappointment. They were beautiful and frightening, compelling and other-wordly, and I got completely lost in their world for the entirety of their extended pre-interval sequence. So much so, that I lost my automatic breathing reflex and had to keep reminding myself consciously that oxygen is really rather important.
I saw more traditional versions of Swan Lake more than once as a child and my main impression of those viewings is that I found them very dull - I had forgotten just how powerful the music is, and the combination of its crescendoes and the swans' movements in this production was utterly spellbinding. I particularly liked the way the lead swan would stand to one side, looking off stage, and then very slowly turn his head to fix the prince with his stare - chilling and yet at the same time very compelling.
After spending the interval learning how to breathe without thinking about it again, the beginning of the second act was something of a come-down. Stylistically, it was excellent, with some very funny and very effective moments, but the swan lost something without his feathers, and I found his actions at the ball unaccountable and cruel. His one dance with the prince during this scene was also less affecting because it was more combative, though still technically brilliant.
The finale, though, was amazing. Very good use of shadows made the swans incredibly menacing, and their betrayal of their leader was very powerful. Ending with the queen finally able to show her emotions only when it was too late rounded the whole thing off perfectly.
This was a very rare occasion when I was expecting something to be really good and it totally exceeded my expectations. One of the best endorsements I can give is that something makes me want to write, and this did that in spades. Unfortunately, anything that would do justice to how this show made me feel would be completely beyond my talent.
I can quite safely say it was the best show I've ever seen. The only word I can come up with for the experience is transcendant.
I got to the theatre in plenty of time, after an extremely nice Malaysian meal at The Banana Tree up the road, to discover I had secured what was probably the best seat in the house. It was about half way back in the stalls, but directly behind the wheelchair spaces, so there was actually nobody directly in front of me, giving me a completely unrestricted view of the stage. And, boy, did I need that!
I think my only criticism of the show would be that there was often too much going on at once to be able to take it all in - several times I found myself missing parts of the main action because I was too busy watching what the people in the background were doing. The opening sections were funny, involving, vibrant, affecting and brilliantly staged, with the clearest portrayal of a plot I've ever seen in a ballet production.
Then, when they finally appeared, the swans were by no means a disappointment. They were beautiful and frightening, compelling and other-wordly, and I got completely lost in their world for the entirety of their extended pre-interval sequence. So much so, that I lost my automatic breathing reflex and had to keep reminding myself consciously that oxygen is really rather important.
I saw more traditional versions of Swan Lake more than once as a child and my main impression of those viewings is that I found them very dull - I had forgotten just how powerful the music is, and the combination of its crescendoes and the swans' movements in this production was utterly spellbinding. I particularly liked the way the lead swan would stand to one side, looking off stage, and then very slowly turn his head to fix the prince with his stare - chilling and yet at the same time very compelling.
After spending the interval learning how to breathe without thinking about it again, the beginning of the second act was something of a come-down. Stylistically, it was excellent, with some very funny and very effective moments, but the swan lost something without his feathers, and I found his actions at the ball unaccountable and cruel. His one dance with the prince during this scene was also less affecting because it was more combative, though still technically brilliant.
The finale, though, was amazing. Very good use of shadows made the swans incredibly menacing, and their betrayal of their leader was very powerful. Ending with the queen finally able to show her emotions only when it was too late rounded the whole thing off perfectly.
This was a very rare occasion when I was expecting something to be really good and it totally exceeded my expectations. One of the best endorsements I can give is that something makes me want to write, and this did that in spades. Unfortunately, anything that would do justice to how this show made me feel would be completely beyond my talent.
I can quite safely say it was the best show I've ever seen. The only word I can come up with for the experience is transcendant.
