Music: Terry Davies
Writer: Patrick Hamilton
Director and Choreographer: Matthew Bourne
He’s the choreographer of our generation – the one with a killer repertoire and not one ‘bad egg’. Each time a new Matthew Bourne production comes around or a revival of a previous piece, you wonder if it’s going to live up to expectations. And somehow, each one – vastly different from the other – never fails to disappoint.
As with all Bourne pieces, it’s best to expect the unexpected – no topic is off limits and the narrative is delivered through dance in an accessible and engaging way. We’ve had Swan Lake with the all male swans, The Nutcracker with its colourful and humorous adaptation and Edward Scissorhands with its powerful exploration of otherness. And now we have The Midnight Bell, based on the novel by Patrick Hamilton, which explores love and lust in all its forms, as well as themes including loneliness, desire and working class life.
Of all the Bourne pieces, this one perhaps has less of an emotional rollercoaster than most, not as many laugh out loud moments, and a less eclectic mix of dance styles. It’s bleaker throughout, but somehow nearly as captivating – showcasing the sombre streets of 1930s London, in contrast to life inside the pub where ordinary people can escape and explore connections. You could watch this piece over and over again and still catch something new, with each couple’s story playing out alongside each other, intertwining beautifully but each with its own intricate choreography and narrative – which have clearly been workshopped and developed to perfection. You have 10 characters, including Bob (Dominic North), a young waiter who is infatuated with Jenny Maple (Ashley Shaw), a young prostitute, Miss Roach (Michela Meazza), a lonely spinster who gets caught in the web of cad Ernest Ralph Gorse (Glenn Graham), and Bourne’s own addition to Hamilton’s tale – Frank (Andy Monaghan) and Albert (Liam Mower – an original Billy Elliot nonetheless!) – who are finding out what it feels like to be gay in a society where it isn’t accepted. The performers are so much more than just dancers – they are beautiful and insanely talented storytellers, able to tell a whole narrative through movement, interaction and facial expressions.
The success of the dancing wouldn’t be possible without a seamless jazz score composed by Terry Davies, which also includes snippets of period songs for the performers to mime to and add another dimension to the narrative. The set and costume design by Lez Brotherston and lighting design by Paule Constable also help paint a perfectly immersive scene and visual spectacle, transporting audiences to back to a long forgotten era and away from the realities of their day to day world.
For Matthew, pieces like this are what he was Bourne to do. And it’s clear from the programme that his company must think so too, with many being involved in his productions for many years. Yet again he’s managed to create a piece with no spoken dialogue that leaves you speechless, with plenty of food for thought and an unwavering urge to watch it all over again. Another diamond in the Bourne treasure chest.
Runs until Saturday 5 July 2025.
