Matthew Bourne's The Red Shoes

Matthew Bourne's vision for this production moves between cinematic and theatrical but never overwhelms the story that it is trying to tell.

An amazing set provides endless spaces for the characters to occupy without once getting in the way or slowing the pace. The ballet within a ballet is the most film-like of the environments created and manages to provide moments that are both intensely touching and really rather sinister.

Beautifully crafted you are drawn not only to the main characters but also to a lot of off-line actions that never scene steal but add a curious reality to everything and provide many moments of humour as the ensemble interact with each other - there are a lot of stories you can follow here whilst the main tragedy plays out!

I found this fresh, exciting and emotionally engaging - an exceptional night of dance