It’s the most wonderful time of the year! That’s right, as has become tradition Matthew Bourne and his band of hoofers – aka the New Adventures – have taken over Sadler’s Wells for Christmas. This year, Bourne is reviving ‘Edward Scissorhands’, a ballet adaption of the brilliantly bizarre Tim Burton movie. Nutcracker, who?
Last seen in 2014, it’s the tale of a synthetic man with scissors for hands who is taken in by the kind housewife Mrs Boggs, much to the dismay of her suburbanite neighbours. Here, prima ballerinas are traded in for twirling topiaries, boinging cheerleaders and a hedge-trimming, bumbling riff on Frankenstein’s monster.
Liam Mower is endearing as a befuddled Edward, who plods around on straight legs with permanently knitted eyebrows. We feel your pain, Edward. Mower’s duets with love interest Kim, played by Katrina Lyndon, were heartfelt and moving as he turned, lifted and embraced her, all while holding his scissory digits at a safe distance. Nicole Kabera as Joyce Monroe, the flirtatious – dare I say, slaggy – neighbour, was also a treat to watch. A high moment was seeing her aggressively try to seduce Edward by rolling around on a beanbag – a scene which culminated in an orgasm on a vivaciously shaking washing machine, all with her hair styled in an audacious red mohawk.
The cheery suburban setting, all picket fences and perfect white grins, is offset with gorgeous gothic. In a glorious opening sequence featuring an eerie lopsided window that’s very Burton, we see one mangled leg dangling from a shabby sofa. Lightening strikes, and the creature jumps to life.
Then there are the Evercreeches, a family of foreboding Bible bashers who first appear like a real-life recreation of Grant Wood’s ‘American Gothic’. I enjoyed watching the two austere parents shaking their crucifix and Bible, flanked by their Wednesday Adams doppelganger of a daughter, who never loses her grimace (props to the new talent, Lyra Treglown), and headbanging rocker son, clutching a boombox graffitied with the mantra ‘Jesus rocks’.
Comedy is aplenty. But the production misses out on the chance to dig deeper into the psyches of Edward, Kim and others, with many of the characters appearing two-dimensional. Instead, Bourne presents lots of nice, fluffy filler dance, like prolonged ensemble sequences of suburban families driving to school, dancing at the winter ball or tanning at the neighbourhood barbecue. It was fun to watch, but didn’t give me the feels I was hoping for.
It is the supreme set, lighting and projection design by Lez Brotherston, Howard Harrison and Duncan McLean respectively, that really takes your breath away in this show, which adds all the cinematic flourishes you’d expect from a Burton fairytale. From stunning realistic projections of the Moon, to magical luminations in a dream sequence that somehow look like fireflies, and iridescent blue and green glimmers that reflect from Edward’s metallic hands, these touches achieve a beauty not often seen on the stage.
‘Edward Scissorhands’ has got laughs, tender moments and dazzling costumes, but it didn’t quite manage to dig in to the meatier emotional themes. The most impressive part is by far the wonderful set, awe-inspiring lights and projections, and magical cinematic score. Quite a lot of filler but also some killer.