Matthew bourne's swan lake

Mathew Bourne’s Swan Lake was first performed in 1995 in Sandler’s Wells Theatre London and takes Tychovski’s score and sets it contemporary dance. Watching Matthew Bourne’s swan lake was such a contrast from Tychovski‘s.  Matthew Bourne’s version seemed a lot darker with the swan having a more aggressive quality. The story is also quite dark with the prince drinking and longing for his mothers loving leading to his obsession with the swan. This version some people see as homo erotic but I feel that the relationship between the swan and the prince is like a love for a pet which the prince uses as a substitute for his mothers love.  This obsession leads to paranoia through the piece and then leads to the prince’s death just like Odette’s and the prices death in the original Swan Lake.

I though the costumes portray the characters really well for example the prince’s girlfriend wears a pink short low cut dress communicating to the audience that she is trashy and not suitable for the prince.   The wool cropped trousers on the swans gave the look of feathers without being too pretty and feminine adding to aggressive and intimidating quality of the swans. The set for whole production was very effective and the pillars either side of the stage even though quite simple adapted to every scene.