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18 November 2025
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5*****
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With the 30th Anniversary of his Swan Lake pulling into Madrid for the final dates of its year-long tour and the dust hardly settled on the UK productions of The Midnight Bell, it has been a busy year for Sir Matthew Bourne and his company, and now The Red Shoes has opened at Plymouth – and as with the aforementioned, it is utterly triumphant.
The premiere of The Red Shoes was in 2016 at the same theatre and represents a long-held desire by Bourne to take the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale and the film by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger and create a choreographed show. A cursory look down the cast list for this production will reveal highly experienced members of the New Adventures company, but there are a fair number of names which are less familiar; brand new to the full company, and a number who have benefitted from being a part of Matthew Bourne’s training scheme, Swan School. It is a mark of the man that he is so loyal to those he works with whether on or backstage. There is a stability and comfort and an unerring belief that standards will be maintained – oh and they so are.
The Red Shoes creates a wonderful world of ballet as it may have been (and maybe still are in some places), of the strictures of the dance and of the all-powerful, autocrats who ruled it. We see life on stage and backstage and share in the creative process with all its ups and downs. We are taken into a love story where the border between fantasy and reality is blurred and we are made to laugh and cry. The ballet company are mounting a new production – The Red Shoes – the Anderson story of the shoes that, once put on, the wearer needs to dance continually or she will die
Leading the cast is the hugely experienced Ashley Shaw who created the role of Victoria, the rising star of the Lermontov company, her performance is completely outstanding. From the start, she engages and takes the viewers’ attention, effortlessly dancing throughout. In the show within the show, she creates the pain and anguish of sheer exhaustion as she tries to dance with her feet broken, unable to dance – it is painful to behold. The shoes take hold of both the fictional and the real character; possessing her, attracting her, at times, in an almost sexual fashion.
Although he doesn’t have a huge amount of dancing to do, the striking figure of Reece Causton as Boris Lermentov, the impresario, looms large throughout; brooding, unapproachable and unable to ‘own’ Victoria as he wishes. The young composer, Julian Craster, is given a wonderful angst and frustration by Leonardo McCorkinndale – he duets with Ashley Shaw beautifully and the amazing solo when he is trying to compose the music, using the piano to play and to dance on, is quite brilliant.
The Premier Danseur of the company is Ivan Boleslawsky and in the role, it is, once again, an utter privilege to see the work of Liam Mower who moves like a dream and appears to change costume (as many of the cast do) with great regularity. Mower draws the eye such is the standard of his dancing and acting, but also his innate stage presence which is undeniable.
Glenn Graham makes for a rather seedy Grischa Ljubov and the vastly experienced Michela Meazza appears to have huge fun as the fading star Irina Boronskaya. There are treasures throughout though. When Victoria leaves Lermontov because he has banned her relationship with Craster, she finds work in a Music Hall in the East End of London and the audience is treated to an hilarious sand dance, the real Wilson, Keppel & Betty? Just wonderful.
The full company don’t have a moments breath as they are involved throughout and the standard of performance is universally high – you would be hard pressed to sort out the long-standing company members and the new.
Bernard Herrmann has always been a favourite composer of film scores and the use of his luscious orchestral scores is a stroke of genius; these rich, melodic pieces are spliced with the discordant and the eerie – Herrmann worked closely with Alfred Hitchcock and he can create atmosphere with ease – he did compose the music for ‘Psycho’ after all. Terry Davies orchestrates with respect and relish.
As ever, Lez Brotherston has created the most effective of sets – the inspired proscenium arch and curtain which elegantly turns to show onstage as well as behind the scenes is so clever and when ‘The Red Shoes’ show is performed, the transformation is startling and surprising. Suddenly we are in a monochrome world where the only other colour is Victoria’s dress and shoes. It is enhanced by extraordinary projections by Duncan Mclean, some of which are dizzyingly affecting, in the best possible way. Talking of Hitchcock, he also used the skills of graphic designer Saul Bass for many title sequences and there is more than a hint of Bass in some of the projections. Again, Bourne turned to Paule Constable to create the lighting – without doubt the best lighting designer in theatre today – and it is so varied, so effective and, as has been said before, creates another character for the story.
Matthew Bourne creates a story of depth and of passion, of joy and tragedy. He is playful at times, there is much to amuse, it is camp and it is inventive. The choreography cannot be pigeon-holed because it crosses so many genres but somehow Bourne makes it all work together. It is joyful to behold.
After the final curtain was taken, I had the joy of speaking with the parents of Matthew Potulski, who, at just 20, was making his debut with the company. On the day he should have been graduating from Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance, he was playing to a packed house at Plymouth in a dazzling production. To say that his parents were proud, is an enormous under-statement. To Matthew and the other new members of the company, you have done Sir Matthew proud and may you have a long career with New Adventures.
The Red Shoes stands out as a production which oozes quality, performed with the highest skill levels with a standout team behind the scenes. Dance barely gets better than this.
Cast
Boris Lermontov – Reece Causton
Victoria Page – Ashley Shaw
Julian Caster – Leonardo McCorkindale
Irina Boronskaya – Michela Meazza
Ivan Boleslawsky – Liam Mower
Grischa Ljubov – Glenn Graham
Nadia – Holly Saw
Svetlana – Anna-Maria de Freitas
Beryl – Shakiera Ward
Pamela – Isabella Chandler
Mikhail – Jarrod McWilliams
Anton – Matthew Potulski
Serge – Kingston Taylor
Frederic – Tom Barnes Standing
Lady Neston, Joyce, Edith – Kayla Collymore
Sergei Ratov – Mark Austin
Dimitri – Adam Davies
Creatives
Director and Choreographer – Matthew Bourne
Composer – Bernard Herrmann
Orchestrations – Terry Davies
Set and Costume Design – Lez Brotherston
Lighting Designer – Paule Constable
Sound Designer – Paul Groothuis
Associate Artistic Director – Etta Murfitt
Video & Projection Designer – Duncan Mclean
Photo Image – Dave Morgan
