Lez Brotherston
The Nutcracker
★★★★☆ Seasonal feast
Scottish Ballet’s much-loved version of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker is back at the Festival Theatre over Christmas. This time round, it seems reinvigorated and remarkably fresh.
Gene Kelly Ballet for SB
Scottish Ballet is planning a hybrid tour and feature-length film this autumn of Starstruck, a reworking with new elements of Gene Kelly’s 1960 ballet Pas de Dieux, which will be getting its UK premiere in the production.
The Secret Theatre
★★★★☆ Christmas treat
The Secret Theatre may not entirely make up for missing a Christmas trip to the ballet but succeeds impressively on its own terms.
Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake
★★★★★ Magnificent:
It’s 23 years since Mathew Bourne changed the gender of the swans in Swan Lake for his choreography of the ballet, which is at the Festival Theatre all week to Saturday.
Bourne’s Cinders for Fest Theatre
June 2018 date for Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella:
Matthew Bourne’s Olivier award-winning ballet of Cinderella is to play Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre in June as part of a major UK tour which starts this Christmas at Sadler’s Wells in London.
The Nutcracker
★★★★★ A Christmas Cracker:
With enough spectacle and showmanship to keep kids big and small spellbound, Scottish Ballet’s revival of Peter Darrel’s Nutcracker at the Festival Theatre and on tour is the perfect Christmas present.
Duet For One
★★★☆☆ Solid:
Thought-provoking and icily emotional, Birmingham Repertory Theatre’s version of Duet For One at the King’s until Saturday is wonderfully acted but never really takes flight.
Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes
★★★★☆ Modern elegance:
Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes, on national tour and at the Festival Theatre all week, is an exquisite celebration of classical ballet with Bourne’s typical modern twist.
Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes
★★★★☆Beautiful and dangerous:
Love, lust, obsession and despair are given colourful and vigorous life in Matthew Bourne’s adaptation of The Red Shoes, touring to the Festival Theatre this week.
Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man
✭✭✭✩✩ Impressive energy:
Accomplished, athletic dancing and clever staging are present and correct in The Car Man. However, it lacks the emotional punch to be an unqualified success.
