The Sleeping Beauty at The Lowry Review
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The Sleeping Beauty
Birmingham Royal Ballet
Reviewed by Lucy Knight
When I was initially told I would be reviewing The Sleeping Beauty at the Lowry Theatre in Salford, Manchester I was very excited as I had never been to a ballet before. I am a regular theatregoer but was inexperienced in visiting the ballet.
Upon arrival we were greeted by the attentive staff who provided us with our tickets and we were then guided to our seats. The show quickly commenced.
The story begins with the christening of Princess Aurora, set in the castle with spectacular costumes and amazing dancing. We were spellbound at the opening act. For the christening King Florestan and his Queen invited all the fairy godmothers of the land. As they gave their gift to the princess, the wicked fairy Carabosse arrives, furious that she has not been invited.
She vows that Princess Aurora will one day prick her finger on a spindle and die. However, the Lilac Fairy is yet to present her own gift and promises that Aurora will not die, but fall into a deep sleep to be awoken 100 years later by the kiss of a prince.
After the interval we returned to watch Act 1 – The spell. This act is again set in the castle; it is princess Auroras birthday and four princes had come to woo her. Princess Aurora is now grown up and beautiful. She dances the night away with the eligible bachelors fighting for her attention, when she comes across an old woman (Carabosse in disguise) who gives her a bunch of flowers. Concealed within the flowers is a spinning needle, which Aurora is fascinated with and she touches and pricks her finger on. She soon becomes dizzy and falls to sleep on the ground.
Caraboose quickly departs before she is arrested and the Lilac Fairy appears to cast the spell of sleep over the whole court and orders a forest to grow and disguise the palace completely.
Act 2 – The vision quickly follows. It is now 100 years later and a young, handsome Prince is hunting in the forest. He faces a vision shown to him by the Lilac Fairy. In the vision he sees Princess Aurora and he is commanded to dance with her. The Lilac Fairy then leads him through the forest to Sleeping Beauty, much to the annoyance and interference of Carabosse. He finds the Princess asleep and wakes her with a kiss. They fall deeply in love and the curtain falls.
Act 3 – The wedding begins after the final interval and is a beautiful celebration of the Prince and Aurora’s wedding. They are accompanied by the members of the court and by fairy tale characters including the Big Bad Wolf, Little Red Riding Hood and Beauty and the Beast. They all put on an amazing show to rejoice in the marriage of the prince and princess.
This was a truly fantastic performance, with outstanding choreography and terrific costumes and props. I was amazed throughout and will definitely return to the ballet time and time again. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole performance.
Rating: 5/5 
For more information on shows at The Lowry visit www.thelowry.com
The Sleeping Beauty performed by the Birmingham Royal Ballet is on tour around the UK until
2 November 2013, for more details or to book tickets visit www.brb.org.uk
