The Midnight Bell
Sep. 10th, 2021 04:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smallhobbitAs many of you are aware, I enjoy going to the theatre, and am a fan of Matthew Bourne's productions. So the excitement at learning that he was creating a new production and the World Premiere would be at Cheltenham, which is close by was immense.
So yesterday evening we went to the Cheltenham Everyman.
The Midnight Bell is based on a number of books by Patrick Hamilton. The action is centred around a pub called The Midnight Bell, and involves five couples and their relationships. It's set in the early 1930s, and the set design conveys the slightly seedy nature of the pub scene at the time. While some of the music was composed for the production a number of songs and recordings from the period were also used.
It's probably best described as Matthew Bourne writes fanfic. There are three couples who come direct from Hamilton's books; one crossover introducing one character from one book to one from another, which has an interesting twist; and two OCs who form a gay couple, something Hamilton couldn't have written at the time, but which fitted into the story perfectly. There was a certain amount of interaction between couples, but on the whole each pair were together and performed their duets together.
It was totally engrossing and completed deserved the standing ovation at the end. It's on tour around England (and Inverness) for the next couple of months. With only 10 dancers, this is smaller than most of New Adventures recent productions, but that doesn't mean the impact is less at all.
So yesterday evening we went to the Cheltenham Everyman.
The Midnight Bell is based on a number of books by Patrick Hamilton. The action is centred around a pub called The Midnight Bell, and involves five couples and their relationships. It's set in the early 1930s, and the set design conveys the slightly seedy nature of the pub scene at the time. While some of the music was composed for the production a number of songs and recordings from the period were also used.
It's probably best described as Matthew Bourne writes fanfic. There are three couples who come direct from Hamilton's books; one crossover introducing one character from one book to one from another, which has an interesting twist; and two OCs who form a gay couple, something Hamilton couldn't have written at the time, but which fitted into the story perfectly. There was a certain amount of interaction between couples, but on the whole each pair were together and performed their duets together.
It was totally engrossing and completed deserved the standing ovation at the end. It's on tour around England (and Inverness) for the next couple of months. With only 10 dancers, this is smaller than most of New Adventures recent productions, but that doesn't mean the impact is less at all.
