Birmingham Royal Ballet Coppelia at the Theatre Royal Plymouth Review
Birmingham Royal Ballet Coppelia
Theatre Royal, Plymouth
26-28 March 2015
Reviewed by Helen Wyatt
On Thursday (26 March) we dressed up to visit the Theatre Royal in Plymouth to see the Birmingham Royal Ballet’s performance of Coppelia.
Coppelia is a traditional ballet which tells the story of a toy maker who wants to bring a life size puppet he has made to life. The ballet also tells a love story between a young woman and man, but they believe the puppet is a real woman and she causes jealousy in the real woman as the man’s eye is caught by the beauty of the puppet (along with some other women!). The story concludes with everyone making up and the young couple getting married.
This ballet was beautifully danced with great skill, power and grace. Along with the dancing, the dancers mimed to convey the story to great effect. The old puppet master, Coppelius, was a great comedic addition to the story, and was complemented well by the other parts. The principal playing the leading male role demonstrated amazing skill and the whole company kept high energy through the whole show.
The orchestra played the music wonderfully, giving a great accompanying score to the dance.
Whilst this is not a fault of the theatre or the ballet company, I found the 3rd and last act to be a little bit pointless. The first 2 acts told a clear story but the 3rd seemed mostly just a vehicle for dancing rather than telling any story as such. The dancers however are so skilled, they were a joy to watch no matter what.
Parking for this theatre is easy as there is a multi-storey car park situated just behind. At night time it is well lit and visibly staffed which is very comforting when leaving the theatre late. The theatre even has a pay station for the car park inside the foyer.
The Theatre Royal Plymouth is a large modern theatre, very well presented. It is full of open spaces on a number of floors. The theatre also presents a number of pieces of art for sale, which adds an additional element of interest to your visit. The theatre boasts a number of bars, a cafe and a restaurant.
The theatre was clean and well kept. There was no obvious rubbish anywhere, and staff cleared items away in a timely manner in the cafe. Rubbish was collected by staff on the exit from the theatre. All staff we encountered were helpful and polite.
This theatre has a lovely friendly atmosphere, and is very welcoming. We were seated in one of the 3 sections of the theatre, which are all designed as different performance spaces. Coppelia was shown in “The Lyric” which is a traditional tiered theatre. All seats appeared to have a good view of the stage.
Rating: 5/5 
Tickets cost from £17.20 to £37.70 (includes a 70p booking fee).
Coppelia, performed by the Birmingham Royal Ballet, is at the Theatre Royal in Plymouth until 28 March 2015. For more information or to book tickets click here or call the box office on 01752 267222.
Theatre Royal Plymouth, Royal Parade, Plymouth, PL1 2TR | 01752 267222.
