REVIEW: Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake the Next Generation Theatre Royal Newcastle

Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake the Next Generation

Theatre Royal Newcastle

Until Saturday 5 April 2025

Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake changed the landscape of ballet when it was first staged in 1995. Bourne’s masterstroke of reimagining the swans as male and his clever updating of the story created a cultural phenomenon that has swept all before it. In its 30 th year, it feels as fresh and vibrant as ever, a thrilling evening of genre-defying dance entertainment.

Nobody was quite prepared for Matthew Bourne’s reimagining of, perhaps, the most iconic of classical ballets. Since its premiere in 1877, it had been constantly revived and reinvented, but nobody had envisaged replacing the poetic and lyrical corps of female swans with male dancers. Bourne, of course is not just an imaginative and highly skilled choreographer, he is also a bold and inspired director, and his vision has been enthusiastically received across the world. The image of the male swans in Lez Brotherston’s terrific costumes has become an icon of dance in the modern era, and with good reason.

The narrative centres on a young and insecure prince, denied affection by his aloof mother, who is uneasy and isolated in his ceremonial role. He is pursued by a glamorous, but inept, society girl – clad, of course, in Barbie pink – but is insecure in his sexuality. After a disastrous, drunken venture out into fashionable disco society, where he is trapped into newspaper notoriety by his mother’s scheming private secretary, he contemplates suicide on the banks of the lake.

A flock of swans appears at the critical moment, led at this performance by Jackson Fisch. He is captivated by them and falls under the spell of their leader, repenting of his wish to end it all.

This is followed by a royal ball, where a charismatic stranger appears and effortlessly seduces all the eligible females, including the queen. Sensing the relationship between the stranger and the swan, the prince watches with growing distress until, finally, the stranger dances alone with him. He brings him to a high emotional pitch before apparently spurning him in favour of his mother. The Prince’s jealousy drives him to drastic action and tragedy inevitably ensues.

Bourne’s choreography is inventive and surprising throughout. Make no mistake, the story may have been modernised, but the dance idiom is still, emphatically, classical ballet. The swans are realised through sinewy, masculine movements, atavistic and exciting. Their clever arm shapings are magical in evoking the birds they represent.

Fisch brings a sultry, persuasive bad-boy charisma to both characterisations, tempered by moments of tenderness and a hint of vulnerability. He is commanding even amongst the rumbustious corps of swans and exquisite in the pas de deux with Stephen Murray’s tortured prince. Strong and athletic, seeming at times to hang in the air, his dancing is magnetic. Murray brings a different vulnerability and emotional energy, employing his flawless technique in a contrasting style so that despite his efforts to mimic the swan, he always seems tragically constrained by his inflexible human nature.

Nicole Kabera’s queen is imperious, icily sexy and dripping with Hollywood glamour, always framed, rather than overwhelmed, by Brotherston’s fabulous gowns. Bryony Wood balances comedy, real emotion and characterful dancing in a superb performance as the hapless girlfriend. Cameron Flynn is appropriately pompous and stiff as the private secretary.

The rest of the company match them in great style, effortlessly adapting from boisterous swans to brisk soldiers or from prim maids to vampish debutantes.

The whole production is fabulously stylish, slickly comparing the corrupt mores of supposedly polite society with the savagery of nature. I have made mention of the costumes but Brotherston’s imposing, impressionistic scenery contributes equally to stimulating both the eye and the emotions.

Through his company, New Adventures, Bourne has an extensive programme of training and developing dancers and, impressively, 56% of this company has taken part in one of these development schemes. Perhaps there were one or two technical inconsistencies with some younger dancers, but the quality of this company stands as a ringing endorsement of those training opportunities.

In short, this terrific production feels as new and relevant as ever. It thrills and engages throughout, delivering the highest standards of dance and entertainment. The standing ovation from a normally reticent ballet audience was richly deserved. 

Review: Jonathan Cash

Photos: Johan Persson

Tickets:

Tickets available from https://www.theatreroyal.co.uk/whats-on/matthew-bournes-swan-lake/