Swan Lake at Theatre Royal

First opening at Sadler’s Wells in November 1995, Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake was fresh as ever at the Theatre Royal on Tuesday night.


Think less tutus, more suspenders, and you’re ready.

Bourne’s provocative re-interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake has firmly established itself as a modern day classic. Its contemporary re-design has become the longest running ballet in the London’s West End and on Broadway.

Swan Lake has collected over thirty international theatre awards including three Tonys for the Broadway production and the reasons why were clear.

Jonathan Ollivier as The Swan

Bourne’s Prince is a young man with an oedipal mother fixation, struggling to find love and battling the inner demons of his sexuality and confidence. Set up with the vapid, giggly girlfriend, he is disgusted by her behaviour and turns to drink. Contemplating suicide, he meets the Swan, in whom he finds a representation of the freedom and love he so desires.

Daringly switching the traditional female corps de ballet in tutus for a male ensemble, Bourne creates a powerful, humorous and hauntingly beautiful production, blending dance with vibrant staging and designs by Lez Brotherston.

Structurally brilliant, it combines the raw ingredients of classical ballet whilst creating a fresh masterpiece, resulting in a piece palatable for all audiences.

An utterly superb all male cast

The all-male ensemble of swans were utterly superb and totally convincing in their menacing performance of Bourne’s charismatic choreography; the sense of danger they infused was spine tingling in its impact.

Simon Williams gave a riveting performance as the Prince and Chris Trenfield’s portrayal of the dual role of the Swan and the Stranger (the equivalent of the Odette/Odile role in the original ballet) was simply stunning. When the pair came together, their duets were beguiling.

These performances were ably bolstered by beautiful routines from Madelaine Brennan as the Queen and Anjali Mehra as The Girlfriend, who was particularly endearing in her comic displays.

Beautifully contemporary, Bourne’s production is a performance simply not to be missed and is bound to delight even the most traditional of ballet lovers.