Le Corsaire at the Liverpool Empire Review
Le Corsaire
Liverpool Empire
18-21 November 2015
Reviewed by Melanie Allen
On this windy and blustery gloomy night, we arrived at the Liverpool Empire by car, parking very close in the Lime Street station NCP multi storey car park for £5.50. Very reasonable I thought.
Having paid another £5.50 for bottle of cider for my husband, (not so reasonable) we settled into our lower circle seats, and I must say we probably had the best seats in the house. The theatre wasn’t full and there were lots of spare seats in our section.
The performance ran for approximately 2 hours 25 minutes, which included two 20 minute intervals. The ballet was divided into three acts, Act I The Bazaar, Act II The Pirate’s Cave and Act III The Pasha’s Palace.
When the curtain went up, the audience immediately started clapping at the excellent English National Philharmonic Ballet Orchestra which was supporting the English National Ballet.
The scene is set – a pirate crew on the high seas, captained by Conrad (Isaac Hernandez) is seeking his lost love, Medora (Tamara Rojo) who he wants to rescue from Lankendem, (Junior Souza) a slave trader and owner of a bazaar.
Set in the Ottoman Empire in a Bazaar, we are introduced to a cast of 46, playing pirates, a harem of slaves and slave dealers. Conrad spies Medora and wants to steal her away, but Lankendem introduces Medora to a very wealthy Pasha (Michael Coleman) sees her and buys her. The rest of the story is about how Conrad fights to get Medora back, the jealousy he faces, and the extent he will go to for love.
The sets are all beautifully decorated with bright and dazzling rich colours, and the audience and I particularly enjoyed the dance that Conrad did in the second half which made me exhausted just watching it! The dancers were truly talented as they spun around the stage like a whirling spinning top.
The orchestra was impeccable – the harpist stood out and it fitted the ambiance of the story perfectly.
Having never been to the ballet before, this was a great introduction to it, and I would definitely recommend it.
Rating: 4/5
Tickets cost from £10 to £44.90 (plus £2.85 transaction fee).
Le Corsaire is at the Liverpool Empire until 21 November 2015. For more information or to book tickets click here or call the box office on 0844 8713017.
Liverpool Empire Theatre, Lime Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, L1 1JE | 0844 8713017
