Swan Lake at the Lyceum Theatre Sheffield Review
Swan Lake
Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield
6-10 January 2015
Reviewed by Sara le Roux
We were invited to see the Moscow City Ballet performance of Swan Lake at the Lyceum Theatre in Sheffield.
Parking was easy to find, and the Lyceum in Sheffield is easy to walk to from any number of places, including the train station. The theatre was very pleasant, well maintained, the bars were spacious and easy to reach. The toilets were clean and well maintained, and the staff were polite and helpful. The ambience in the theatre was very good, I’ve been there a few times, and have always enjoyed the theatre itself, which harks back to the Victorian age, but well maintained.
Swan Lake is about the meeting of true love between Prince Siegfried and the Swan, and then the intervention of an evil wizard who fools the prince into promising himself to Odile, the black swan. It all comes to the final scene where the prince and swan drown in the lake freeing the other swans from their curse, and ascending to heaven.
The costumes were lovely and subtly accentuated the roles. The male lead was extremely tall, that was an interestingly contrast to the swan/black swan who was quite small, I think during one lift she must have been almost 9 foot off the ground! He did well The female lead was excellent, and seemed to embody the graceful nature of the swan, and was very good at subtly changing between the white/black.
The stage was smaller than I expected, and at times I was amazed that so many cygnets and dancers could be on stage at the same time without colliding, but the choreography was excellent, and the dancers were extremely well rehearsed and knew where and when they needed to be anywhere.
I thought the lowlights were that the lead could have been a bit stronger in portraying someone who evolved from a reckless fun-loving prince into someone willing to sacrifice himself for the woman/swan he loved. However he did do far better in the second half of the play. Some of the male supporting cast seemed to be going through the motions. The musicians in the pit were generally good, however the clarinet was disappointing, as in some of the key sections they were either too slow or off-key.
The highlights were the female leads, who were excellent and the swan was extremely good, and made the role seem effortless. The Cygnets were extremely good in the set pieces, and the iconic sections were well performed.
Overall I thought the production was well staged and the cygnets, swan and male lead were very good, the ambiance was lovely and I would definitely go back to watch it again.
Rating: 4/5
Tickets cost from £24 to £35 (plus £1.50 transaction fee).
Moscow City Ballet Swan Lake is at the Lyceum Theatre in Sheffield until 10 January 2015. For more information or to book tickets click here or call the box office on 0114 249 6000.
Sheffield Theatres, 55 Norfolk Street, Sheffield, S1 1DA | Box Office 0114 249 6000
