The fairy tale and film get a new life in this 10-year revival of Matthew Bourne’s love letter to stage and screen.
Based on the 1948 film by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger – itself inspired by a Hans Christian Andersen story – this ballet tells the tale of ambitious dancer Victoria Page, caught between her obsession to perform and the love of two men who inspire her.
For a show that is so nakedly a paean to celluloid, the early scenes are among the least cinematic of Bourne’s work, with Lez Brotherston’s domineering, roaming revolving richly-draped theatre arch providing the main visual spectacle.
The dance here is more traditional ballet, with plenty of en pointe work, albeit spiced up with some jokes including drunk production staff, Reece Causton’s heavily sarcastic ballet master, and Katrina Lyndon as a Chihuahua-carrying prima ballerina.
There is some great dance throughout, but it’s with The Ballet of the Red Shoes show-within-a-show that the performers really sparkle. A modern, angular set descends, decorated with Duncan McLean’s stunning monochrome projections and shadows that would make Hitchcock proud. We get spikey ensemble pieces, a dancehall in hell, and (along with the closing reprise) the best dancing by Hannah Kremer as Page as she is teased with the fancy footwear of the title. Elsewhere on opening night in Norwich she shied a little from some moves, but here she was fluid and sensuous.
There is plenty of humour to follow in the later musical hall scene, from charmingly mistimed Egyptian dancers to a ventriloquists dummy with a wandering hand, before we reach the story’s tragic conclusion as Page and her lover Julian (Dominic North) bicker and fail to reignite past glories.
The denouement is visually stunning, as the revolving curtain chases the dancers and finally reveals an untimely end for Page.
Bourne’s choreography continues to be impressive, as does his talent for finding and bringing on dancers – the majority of the cast came through his New Adventures’ company’s talent programmes. His, and their, passion deserves all the applause.
- Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes continues at Norwich Theatre Royal until 11 April 2026, with a post-show Q&A after the 8 April evening performance. Tickets £20-£60. Touring nationally.
