Swan Lake - Review!

I was super fortunate to have been able to be invited to the press night for Matthew Bournes “Swan Lake” at the new wimbledon theatre. This was my first ever ballet show! 

The entire filled the stage with such grace, beauty and elegance. They were practically gliding across the stage and every single move was done with such precision and thought. They were absolutely breathtaking. Their ability to tell the story without a single spoken word is astounding, every single movement had so much intention and it was so clear what was going on. 

The duet between the prince (James Lovell) and his the queen (Katrina Lyndon) was so compelling and powerful. This moment padticularly stood out to me as there was so much passion and you could clearly see the characters thought processes simply through the expression on the performers faces. 

The entire show was so visually stimulating and stunning. The set was extraordinary, truly drawing you in to each location portrayed. The costumes were so beautiful, I particularly loved the swan costumes as I adored the way in which the feathers bounced as they danced, which added such an elegant aspect to the swans. I also loved the way in which they used the fog during the swan scenes, as the performers would step into the fog, it would seperate around them. This had such an impactful effect and was so visually stunning. 

Before the interval, The Swan, played by Rory Mcloud had to go off, he had given an absolutely stunning performance. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to catch the name of the person who stepped on and covered for him, but I still wanted to mention them in this review as they did an incredible job! They came on stage so promptly and continued the performance strongly. (If you are aware of who this was, please let me know and i can edit their name into this review, i would love for them to get the recognition they deserve.) 

The use of vocal sound effects from the cast rather than speaking was so impactful. the breathing in unison truly had me feeling as if the swans were one body, and a collective group. These sound effects gave such intention to every single movement done by the swans. I truly forgot that I was watching people, due to the level of perfection to which the cast of swans embodied their parts. the contrast between the light jumps and the loud stomping really allowed you to feel the way the characters are, and truly channel their emotions. 

I would like to particularly mention Bryony Wood who played the girlfriend. She was absolutely hilarious and added so much value to the performance. She was constantly catching my eye due to her constant commitment to character, the entire audience found her hilarious. She remained engaged throughout and truly embraced this character, it did not go unnoticed. 

I did find that in act 3, the story got a bit harder to follow as it became more interpretive with the swan dances, rather than a concrete storyline. However, this show was so artistically stunning that this slight issue in my understanding of the story, did not affect my overall enjoyment of the show! I remained engaged in the dancing and scenery on stage.

I would definitely try and catch this show if you have the opportunity, the level of talent is absolutely extraordinary.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

{Gifted Invite}