Blu-Ray Review: The Matthew Bourne Collection

THE MATTHEW BOURNE COLLECTION – 5 Blu-Ray Box Set (Illuminations – 5060291820232)

Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

The Christmas season came early for me this year due to the fact that I was sent this 5 Blu-Ray box set to review – and what an absolute treat it is.

Matthew Bourne is widely hailed as the UK’s most popular and successful choreographer/director, creator of the world’s longest-running ballet production, a five-time Olivier Award winner, and the only British director to win Tony Awards for Best Choreographer and Best Director of a Musical. With his trademark storytelling, his shows with his New Adventures company are thrilling and evocative reinterpretations of classic, much-loved tales and this set contains 5 of the best.

We have:

• The Car Man – an exciting and entertaining show based on Bizet’s Carmen but reinvented as a delightful and dangerous vision of small-town America.
• Cinderella – a heart-stopping fairy tale of love and loss, set in a war-torn London, during the horrors of the Blitz.
• Swan Lake – an audacious, witty and emotive re-imagining of a classic ballet featuring a menacing male ensemble of dancers. This much-loved show turned tradition upside down.
• Romeo + Juliet – based on Shakespeare’s tale of love and conflict, it bursts with youth and vitality in a timeless story of repressed emotions and teenage discovery.
• The Red Shoes – a triumphant adaptation of Hans Andersen’s tale of obsession, possession, and one girl’s dream to be the greatest dancer in the world.

The ballets themselves are thrilling and bear repeat viewing, but they are also absolutely fabulous to watch for the outstanding costume and set designs by Lez Brotherston – captured in their fully glory on these beautiful Blu-Ray editions.

Extras on the discs are The Making of the Car Man, The Making of Cinderella, The Making of Swan Lake, The Making of Romeo + Juliet and, you guessed it, The Making of The Red Shoes – all well worth giving the time to watch.

A beautifully presented box set that anyone interested in ballet, and especially Matthew Bourne, will be more than delighted to receive this Christmas.

Nick Wakeham