Director and Choreographer: Matthew Bourne
Writer (inspired by): Patrick Hamilton
Reviewer: Lela Tredwell
From a master of non-verbal storytelling, The Midnight Bell is an evocative, stunning piece of dance theatre that will spin your heart in circles and lift it up mid prance. For those less familiar with the medium, this is a wonderful place to dive in, while veterans will enjoy the rich, multi-layered imaginings of Matthew Bourne brought to life with the expected mesmerising choreography.
Tonight the Theatre Royal Brighton is packed and the air is electric. We are transported in a heartbeat to 1930s London to the seedy streets of Soho and Fitzrovia. Opening its doors is The Midnight Bell, a pub where Ella (Hannah Kremer) and Bob (Andy Monaghan) serve a collection of hard drinking, disparate souls seeking connection. As Bob (Monaghan) takes a shine to lady of the night Jenny (Ashley Shaw), a controlling new comer, Frank (Edwin Ray) closes in on Ella.
As if reflecting the tensions between the colleagues, further strained relationships emerge from the punters who crowd the bar. The lonely, vulnerable Miss Roach (Michela Meazza) succumbs to the charms of rotter Ernest Ralph Gorse (Glenn Graham). George Harvey Bone (Danny Reubens) struggles to separate his illusions from reality in his pursuit of the vivacious Netta Longdon (Cordelia Braithwaite). And an obvious but outlawed attraction is stifled when Mr Eccles (Reece Causton) gravitates closer to West End Chorus Boy Albert (Liam Mower).
The cast are all enthralling in their craft and the relationships they create are equally compelling to watch unfold. While still keeping us guessing, the connections seem to have tragedy sewn into their very core. It is these characters, with all their unglamorous desperation that attracted Matthew Bourne. Their stories are largely inspired by the writer Patrick Hamilton. Bourne first became interested in the author’s famous plays: Rope and Gaslight, but it is particularly Hamilton’s later novels, filled with failed relationships and bitterness that have influenced The Midnight Bell. With this production, New Adventures has managed to capture the feel of a short story anthology, if the pages had been gutted from the spine and scattered to the winds. As the relationships overlap, merge, separate, entwine, the whole piece seems to undulate in a way that is bewitching.
With a bittersweet musical score by Terry Davies, and gripping sound design by Paul Groothuis, this production is a binge for both ears and eyes. The evocative choreography is coupled with perfect period costumes and an ethereal set. Lez Brotherston’s well chosen stage dressings, including an illuminated red sign for ROOMS, the top of a telephone box, and iconic metal railings, float in and out giving the piece a dreamlike quality. Sometimes we stay in the same location and yet the set shifts, catching us off guard but allowing us to view the space from a different angle. Coupled with lighting design from Paule Constable, we may snatch haunting glimpses of characters in the background, whether approaching through windows, leaving via passageways, or just going about their lonely business. All the elements knot together to create a sublime feeling of the transitory nature of connection.
This production was born out of the periods of isolation caused by Lockdown and as a show it really has that feel of desperation for interrelation and for physical touch. Interpreting the intoxicating movement, is so visually stimulating, but also stirring for the heart. There’s a longing to the episodes, as if no character is quite able to ask for what they really need. The way the relationships flow around each other and dance with the set gives us the very real sense of ships that pass in the night.
There is so much humanity to The Midnight Bell, but also, despite being a period piece, there is timelessness. We can believe these characters are still in Soho right now, as if on a loop: yearning, despairing, hoping. The show manages to capture a seedy quality to this era but in a truly alluring way. We crane forward on the edge of our seats not wishing to miss a single gesture. There’s so much to drink in, an audience can be quite forgiven for staying for another round.
Runs to 2nd August 2025
