Play Without Words
Matthew Bourne
Play Without Words
Chelsea, 1965. Behind the privileged façade of domestic social order lies a struggle for power, territory and sexual domination. In a suave Chelsea home an urbane master and his beautiful fiancée welcome their new manservant, Prentice. What follows will change their lives forever. Sexy, chic and thrillingly original, this dance drama is a spellbinding carnival of seduction, intrigue and power.
4.0 out of 5 based on 5 reviews
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Omniscore:
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| Location |
London |
| Venue |
Sadler's Wells |
| Director |
Matthew Bourne |
| Cast |
. |
| From |
July 2012 |
| Until |
August 2012 |
| Box Office |
0844 412 4300 |
| |
Chelsea, 1965. Behind the privileged façade of domestic social order lies a struggle for power, territory and sexual domination. In a suave Chelsea home an urbane master and his beautiful fiancée welcome their new manservant, Prentice. What follows will change their lives forever. Sexy, chic and thrillingly original, this dance drama is a spellbinding carnival of seduction, intrigue and power.
Reviews
The Evening Standard
Lyndsey Winship
“Play Without Words is one of Bourne’s least “dancey” works but one of his best pieces of choreography. Nothing is wasted, every movement is at the service of character or narrative. And while Bourne is generally a choreographer of broad strokes, the devil is in the detail — the tipped chin of the servant, the slouchy gait of the maid. The real ingenuity, however, comes in having two or three dancers duplicating each role, playing out scenes in tandem, offering different takes on behaviour, decisions and reactions. It’s a brilliantly effective device. Clever and sexy — always a winning combination.”
18/07/2012
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The Independent
Zoe Anderson
“Terry Davies’ jazz score is haunting and joyously groovy, switching from jazz clubs and parties to late night loneliness. A dripping kitchen tap becomes part of the music, a spare soundtrack for Anthony’s encounter with his housemaid. This is the sexiest of Bourne’s duets, just because it’s so repressed: both quiver at the least touch of a fingertip. Dressed in a borrowed cricketing sweater, she stretches a hand out behind her, very slowly getting closer to his bare chest.”
16/07/2012
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The Independent on Sunday
Jenny Gilbert
“As with all Bourne's best work, the detail and the humour is delicious.”
22/07/2012
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The Daily Telegraph
Mark Monahan
“Each character’s portrayers execute their deftly stylised moves in perfect synch, a smart device that both beefs up the action and gives it an almost hall-of-mirrors effect ... In one delightfully constructed, often erotically charged set-piece after another – we are [instead] given simultaneous depictions of the same encounter either from three different physical perspectives or else at three different stages in its unfolding. A kind of flesh-and-blood pop-Cubism, this also drolly echoes the split-screen technique that filmmakers at the time were beginning to use.”
16/07/2012
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Time Out
Rachel Halliburton
“The constant lurking presence of the sinister Speight in nightclubs or late-night Soho streets embodies the 50 shades of sexuality that both visually and emotionally animate this work. Immaculate style and choreography, meanwhile, provide a delightful counterpoint to the murky undertones. Ten years on, this remains a deserved classic.”
17/07/2012
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