Swan Lake, Newcastle Theatre Royal (From The Northern Echo)

Swan Lake, Newcastle Theatre Royal

10:38am Friday 19th March 2010 in

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HATE ballet? Then you will love this. Matthew Bourne’s visionary postmodern reworking of this classical ballet is unmissable It’s now 15 years since it smashed its way onto the stage, breaking box office records and winning countless awards along the way.

It’s a common misconception that this is a men only show. Bourne has taken a scythe to the story and fashioned it into something raw and hugely powerful. Odette’s out and taken the tutus with her and in her place left a herd of hard-knock, punky swans (the all-male corps de ballet), who are pretty intimidating.

Chief Swan and all round heartbreaker was Richard Winsor, who exudes a sexual charisma which is, quite frankly, dangerous.

The reluctant Prince (Sam Archer) falls for this big bird and who can blame him? Aside from the swan’s rugged, if occasionally violent, charm, poor princey’s mummy, the Queen, has seriously neglected her parental duties, leaving him a fragile mess of a man.

Bourne’s imagination carves out a completely coherent, if radical story. Issues of conformity and the devastating, brutal power of the erotic are hugely important and it is a joy to see a vision come alive like this.

The tired old cliches of ballet (and a rough guide of what not to do as an audience member) are also seamlessly woven into a treatment, which is as funny as it is dark. Lez Brotherston’s set and costume design is superb and you could be forgiven for forgetting you’re watching a ballet.

As for the look of the swans, aside from their physicality, never before has so much menace been wrought with so little black eyeliner.

■ Until March 27. Tickets 0844-811-2121 and online at theatreroyal.co.uk Sarah Scott