Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes At Milton Keynes Theatre Review

DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW

Reviewed by Janine Rumble

Wow! What an amazing evening of ballet! Matthew Bourne’s production of The Red Shoes is a spectacular retelling of the original story of The Red Shoes, ‘based on the 1948 Powell and Pressburger film, which is in turn based on the tragic fairytale by Hans Christian Anderson, The Red Shoes is the story of a talented young dancer who finds herself torn between love and her career, with heartbreaking consequences’.

The dancers perform this heartbreaking story with spectacular and mesmerising skill, following the main characters from London, to Paris, to Monte Carlo, to Villefranche-Sur-Mer, to Monte Carlo, to London, to Monte Carlo, to London and back to Monte Carlo for the tragic ending, telling the tale of Victoria Page, a rising star and her life in her pursuit to become a prima ballerina. The ballet is accompanied by the truly talented New Adventures Orchestra and the music really adds another dimension to the telling of the story as is a beautiful accompaniment to the stunning dancing.

Each of the ballet dancers were amazing and so, so talented, I could have watched them dance forever. Their story telling skills through dance was amazing. They brought each of their characters and their stories to life in such a simple, yet beautiful way, so much so that I had no trouble in understanding and following the plot. Their dancing portrayed the highs and the lows, the happy, the sad, the highlights and the struggles beautifully.

The costumes were beautiful and portrayed the era in which the ballet was set so well. Watching the dancers in their outfits had me wanting to don a tutu and dance around the stage. The costumes were beautiful and added to the ambience of the story.

The stage is very, very clever in the way that it is used throughout the show. The stage and the props really help to tell the story of the ballerina and the red shoes that made her dance until she died. The stage rotates very cleverly throughout the show to either symbolise a stage with the dancers facing towards us, the audience and then when it had rotated we became part of the backdrop of the theatre and the dancers danced facing the back of the stage, which then, essentially, became the front of the stage, with pretend audiences that they were performing to. By becoming the back of the stage, we were treated to life behind the curtain and got to see a glimpse of a ballet dancers’ life. We got to see the auditions, the rehearsals, the performances, the highs, the lows, it was like being let into a secret world, just for a magical moment.

The Red Shoes is on at Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday 14th February. Tickets are priced from £15.00 and can be booked via the box office in the theatre or online here.

I give this double Olivier Award winning production of Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes 4/5 stars. A must see for any ballet fan.

Rating: 4/5