Sadler’s Wells is full of Christmas spirit, as fake snow falls and ice sculptures are crafted onstage in Matthew Bourne’s annual seasonal fair that comes with a deeper relevant message for our times: one of inclusion in the face of alienation.
Edward Scissorhands is joyously transformed from celluloid to stage by Caroline Thompson, taking the gothic nineties Tim Burton classic that turns a potentially threatening figure of a boy with sharp knives for hands into a kindly do-good community member who styles hair and hedges, thanks to the goodwill and open-mindedness of Peg Boggs (Kerry Biggin). The kindly woman looks beyond Edward's oddities, a part-human and partly unidentifiable creation of a mad inventor, and only sees a vulnerable young man with nowhere to live, offering up her home and family.
Bourne’s choreography is glorious. While the focus is on Edward, the entire cast are engaged in sweepingly feel-good numbers, snatching references from '50s celluloid and comic touches that bring joy as well as sadness for the plight of desolate Edward. The colourful array of pleasantly weird suburban characters create a fabulously layered Technicolor town from the gang of jocks to the town siren, gay dads and men limbering up for a round of golf. The stage is a cross between The Truman Show and a gothic horror film.
Liam Mower as Edward brings deep pathos to the role, and it can be no easy feat dancing with blades for hands, especially when he wraps his muse into his arms and they embrace. Katrina Lyndon as Kim Boggs is playful and light on her feet, her temperate nature in tune with her swingy pony tail. Then glimmers of abusive boyfriend behaviour encourage Edward to step up and profess his love while protecting her at the same time, ironically marking out his demise.
Outside of the topiary that Edwards shears into magnificent shapes, there is nothing ornamental about the movement. Everything works functionally to create such a believable sense of place, and Edward's pain is palpable as he journeys from stranger to accepted community member and is finally cast out into the ether with no return.
Such tragedy is cradled at all times by the richly detailed ensemble dances that function to serve the narrative throughout the show in a slick retelling in movement form; especially clear is the final Christmas brawl in the showdown between Kim’s boyfriend and Edward.
The sets are totally absorbing, drawing us into the uniform, pastel suburban bliss of Hope Springs, the light colours playfully masking the town’s darker secrets that spawn the likes of Edward Scissorhands, hiding him at first from public view before embracing him as a minor celebrity.
Dance is mirrored by a supersonic, showy, yet also flowingly lyrical score based on the film music from Danny Elfman that brings big-screen glamour to the stage. It’s also a joy to experience the live orchestra and singers compared to recorded music of past Bourne productions.
As the cast weaves its magical web of movement around the principle dancers, it’s hard not to feel deeply moved by the sadness of Edward, emblematic of the insidious underbelly of suburban life, reflecting tremors of divisiveness within a closed society of restricted social norms. Underneath the surface of the colourful costumes, lighting and jolly numbers sits a serious message: to be accepting of difference.
An eerily dark and wistfully sad show wrapped in a colourful Christmas bow. An absolute hit.