An unmistakable whiff of Kryptonite as two “gods” in stretchwear cross-pollinate to produce a glowing pod which descends to earth to hatch Merlin, star of Northern Ballet’s latest dance drama, which had its opening run at Nottingham’s Theatre Royal last week.
Ballet-goers with long memories might have been dreading something along the lines of David Bintley’s two-part epic yawn Arthur, a languorous mash-up of French and Middle English romance. Drew McOnie has opted instead for a convoluted back story in which the young wizard and his pet dragon do battle with Morgan Le Fay, forge Excalibur and generally pave the way for the king-to-be. The nigh-impenetrable two-page synopsis appears to have been written via Google Translate but the production is strongly danced and played, sounds OK and looks divine.
Under his 20-year directorship, David Nixon’s company has never put a foot wrong design-wise (even the Nazi-occupied Paris-set Hamlet had cracking uniforms) and Colin Richmond’s gunmetal and gold sets and costumes are another class act, lit with painterly skill by Anna Watson. The action is backed by a wall of tarnished gold leaf and furnished with an array of props that set the scene without cluttering the midscale spaces booked for Merlin’s autumn tour. A steampunk forge on wheels does duty for Merlin’s home. Gnarled trees whizz from wing to wing during the constant battle scenes, a rib-vault ceiling whisks us to Camelot and an ingenious trio of gilded Gothic doorways glide about, conjuring the corridors of the castle.
The ensemble are lavishly dressed with skirted tabards lined with glossy gold satin for the Solar Warriors (do keep up) and floaty lace for Morgan, Ygraine and, er, the other one. And magic tricks! And puppets! A pair of attack dogs with wheeled front paws and articulated necks menace the hero and his cute fire-breathing dragon devised by Rachael Canning and manipulated by an “invisible” handler (Gavin McCaig).
Grant Olding’s score is blandly cinematic. The incessant vision scenes are flagged by shimmering strings and the fight sequences by a great deal of cod-medieval tucketting (something of a stretch for the Northern Ballet Sinfonia’s brass section, if we’re honest). The prolific TV and theatre composer was at his best in the doomy, vertiginous waltz in which Morgan (Sarah Chun at last Thursday’s matinee) steals Merlin’s power.
McOnie is a seasoned show choreographer — In the Heights, Hairspray, King Kong — but this is his first full-length work for a ballet company. He plays it pretty safe, but his writing is fluent, attractive and characterful and he deploys the small, quick-changing corps de ballet with real skill. The duets, if a mite derivative, are free-flowing and athletic and show off the partnering skills of Matthew Koon (Merlin) and Mlindi Kulashe (Uther). The fairy variation pastiches for Alessandra Bramante and Aerys Merrill are wittily crafted and niftily danced but McOnie doesn’t let them take a bow. Why not? Applause might slow down the action, but it does remind the audience that it’s having (quite) a good time.
★★★☆☆
To December 4, northernballet.com
"dazzling" - Google News
October 04, 2021 at 06:51PM
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Lavish costumes cast a dazzling spell in Northern Ballet’s Merlin - Financial Times
"dazzling" - Google News
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