Early Adventures by Matthew Bourne
Sadler's Wells, London
What better way to celebrate thirty years of Matthew Bourne’s New Adventure than taking a nostalgic journey through his early creations. Bourne presents a triple bill made up of Watch with Mother (1991), Town and Country (1991), and The Infernal Galop (1989). Each work is full to the brim with an eclectic display of iconic cultural references. The evening, aptly named Early Adventures, shows Bourne’s wonderful gift of storytelling, through the perfect balance of witty and charming clichés, belly laughing circumstances, and poignant yearning.
The recognisable voice of Joyce Grenfell’s Nursery School sketches introduces Watch with Mother. The cast transform into a class of school children as they bound around a gymnasium in 1950s uniforms. Simple playground games transform into a witty movement vocabulary – however, at times the simplicity feels slightly lacklustre. Fun humour continuously arises in the work but, stereotypically of Bourne, is paired with melodramatic sorrow of a tortured lonely boy who lives in fear of his bullies.
The duel part work, Town and Country, takes a comic view on the British identity from bygone times. Starting in the Town, where Bourne creates a bustling hotel filled with the pompous upper class that is waited on hand and foot (quite literally). This humorous pastiche finds a moment of calm as a tender romantic duet unfolds by repressed homosexual lovers. No sooner is this romantic mood achieved than is it whisked away with a high paced scooter sequence. The dancers’ precariously balance on their two wheels in impressive arabesques positions whilst they speed across the stage.
The comic pastiche seems to step up another gear as Town transforms into Country. A gesture driven movement vocabulary depicts traditional country chores and pastimes. A pair of persistent cloggers dominates the stage, much to the approval of an audience of animal puppets. This amusing sequence of traditional clog dancing ends in tragedy as an on looking hedgehog is slayed in a clog related ‘accident’. This piece confirms Bourne’s sophisticated control over the choreographic atmosphere of his work as he matches these humorous moments with serious and melancholy sequences based on Wuthering Heights, swan-like imagery and the hedgehog’s funeral (and so the laughter returns!)
The concluding work, The Infernal Galop, transforms the previous British clichés to French ones. It uses British imaginings of Parisian culture with melodramatic passion, cool romantic duets, and overtly sexually charged movement. Bourne’s choreography is at it's best with Tom Clark’s solo depiction of a merman. Clark gracefully slinks across the floor to the iconic French sounds of Trenet’s La Mer. The evening closes with a stern faced tease of a cancan as the triumphant and recognisable Gaite Parisienne blares on.
Photo credits: Johan Persson
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