Swan Lake at the Alhambra Theatre Review
Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake
Alhambra Theatre, Bradford
4-8 March 2014
Reviewed by Catherine Fletcher
On arriving at the theatre to watch Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake it appeared to be very busy and everyone seemed to be buzzing with anticipation to be seeing the show. We were given our tickets and shown to our seats which were of central viewing in row K, eleven rows from the front. Looking round the theatre there appeared to be no empty seats visible which made me think that it must be a very popular performance we were about to view. As the curtain went up the first scene opened with the Prince (Liam Mower) lying in bed waking up after having a bad dream, he was then lifted from his bed by a line of maids and the butler, who helped him to get dressed.
The prince then goes into the palace where he meets a girl who becomes his girlfriend, (Carrie Johnson) who is not accepted by the Queen, (Madeline Brennan) who is the Prince’s mother. He then goes on to take his girlfriend to the Opera House to see the ballet, where her behaviour is not approved by the Queen.
But it is very funny and amusing to the audience as she is laughing, eating sweets and answering her mobile phone, much to the annoyance of the Queen. He then discovers the seedy night life by visiting the Swank Nightclub, where his girlfriend is having a whale of a time much to his annoyance.
The Prince then goes on a road of self-destruction after being hurt and upset by his girlfriend’s behaviour, he then sits on a park bench contemplating taking his own life. He’s approached by a flock of male swans and when he sees the freedom and love they have he finds himself attracted to the lead swan (Chris Tronfield).
This is then followed by the flock of male swans dancing the famous Swan Lake Ballet Dance.
The second act opens with the Palace Ball where the Prince’s ex-girlfriend has managed to find a way to get into the ball, also the male swan who has now become a male leather dressed stranger who proceeds to flirt with all the women including the Queen again much to the annoyance of the prince who then suddenly then produces a gun. This is followed by a confrontation between the two of them. When somehow the Queen’s secretary (Jack Jones) gets the gun and accidently shoots the ex-girlfriend, the police are called and the Prince ends up in prison where he is treated by doctors and strange weird masked nurses, he is then returned to the palace to be cared for by the Queen.
Then the show continues with all the male swans performing there dance routines when suddenly they turn on the Prince and also the lead swan, which leads to the prince’s death.
As he is lying dead on his bed the Queen arrives to find her son dead and a light above the bed shows the Prince in the arms of the lead swan which brings the show to its finale.
I thoroughly enjoyed the performance and found the music was the best part of the show for me as ballet is not really my thing but overall I found the whole performance very enjoyable and would not hesitate to recommend this to all my family and friends.
Rating: 5/5 
Tickets cost from £18.50 to £40.50 (plus transaction fee).
For more information or to book tickets click here or call the Box Office on 01274 432000.
