Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake is not a ballet, but an iconic piece of absolutely first-class theatre.
18 years ago, Bourne’s decision to recast the traditional female swans as males, sent shock-waves across the ballet world. Swan Lake was the darling of traditionalists - to suggest messing about with it was akin to suggesting the molestation of a national treasure in a public place! And what about, for instance, the emblematic Dance of the Cygnets in Act II – would this be performed by men in drag? Rumours abounded amid the outrage, and for many, the whole thing was simply unthinkable.
Fast-forward a couple of decades, and Bourne himself is now a darling of the world of theatre and fast becoming a national treasure. He has won the Olivier Award five times and is the only Brit to have won a Tony for both Best Choreographer and Best Director of a Musical. And his version of Swan Lake is the longest running ballet in London’s West End and on Broadway.
The surprise is not that it ran for so long, but that it ever stopped. This is a production that gives everything, from gut-wrenching anguish to eye-watering humour, with knobs on. The recasting of the swans in all their muscular maleness was a masterstroke, opening up the possibility of exploring sexuality and intimacy, restrictions and freedoms, and ultimately taking the traditional Swan Lake story into very modern, unchartered waters.
Bourne’s male swans are the star of the show - a truthful parody of the real thing; they are aggressive, occasionally ungainly and unpredictable; but they are also tender, graceful and majestically powerful. There is a terrible violence that lends a menacing note to their wild, abandoned freedom, mirrored in the emotions of the prince who reels from tortured, to exuberant and back again.
Every aspect of this production is stamped with the highest quality – from Lez Brotherston’s witty and original set and costume design, through Rick Fisher’s inspired lighting design, right down to the timely raised eyebrow of the last dancer on the left. The calibre of the direction and choreography really goes without saying.
Bourne admits he has been very hands-on with this revival, and in addition to tightening up the choreography, he has also ‘toned down the humour, taken out a few red-herrings in the plot and beefed up the drama.’ Whatever he has done, one thing is certain – this could not, in any way, be bettered.
Runs til 26 April