On the 14th of January 2009 we went to see Edward Scissorhands at Sadler's Wells.
The new production is set very differently from the original with entirely new elements. The biggest change would be that instead of a play, Matthew Bourne has chosen to make all characters mute and replace the speech with a fantasy dance on a dazzling set with magical music choreographed by talented Danny Elfman and Terry Davies. The dance is set in the modern era and follows the story of Edward Scissorhands, an unfinished lab experiment with scissors instead of hands. The dance also features a wide array of other characters such as the couple who look after him, their daughter, whom is Edward’s love interest, her rough and rowdy boyfriend and all the other local townspeople.
The main character, as the title suggests, is Edward Scissorhands who is a timid, young boy that has recently entered the small town. He seems to have a funny personality, such as in the scene where he enters the town, he falls in a bin but is also very cautious and hostile to people whom he sees as a threat. This is shown when he first meets the people of the town, he doesn’t know who they are and acts nervously around them, pointing his scissors in defense at anyone who comes too near. He is presented as a somewhat scruffy person as his clothes suggest but is very kind at heart. I really liked the characterization for all the characters and I think the actors did a brilliant job on their characters. Not only did they have the right personalities, they also had the right features and the brightly coloured costumes brought out the character’s personalities even more which was a needed effect since the characters don’t talk.
The costumes were designed to really bring out each individual’s personality. For example, Edward had dull and somewhat scruffy clothes on throughout the play which symbolizes the fact that he is an experiment. The girl that he loved wore a lot of pink and generally had a cheerleader’s outfit on which characterized her as a happy-go-lucky character who loves bright colours and is always cheerful. The Goth family, on the other hand wore almost all black, leather outfits which presented them as the darker side to the town.
The lighting changed throughout the film to set what time of day the scene took place in. For example, the first scene had no lighting except for a very bright single spotlight in the centre of the stage as it was set in a nighttime atmosphere. However, when the barbeque scene came on, the whole stage was filled with bright yellow lights that shone down on each character to represent the sun and daytime. I think the lighting was very cleverly done since it was used in a number of different ways: To set the scene, to show emotion and to represent the time of day.
The sets were one of my favourite parts of the dance as they were beautifully set up with wonderful items and bright colours. It is clear to see that it had taken a lot of time and imagination to come up with such wonderful sets. Each one was done differently to bring out the emotion of that certain scene. One of my favourite sets was the one where Edward and his love were dancing with the trees. It was an extremely plain set with barley anything on it but it really brought out the emotional depth of that particular scene. Simple yet beautiful. Another interesting scene was the first time we see the town in daylight. It was a very busy set with a lot of different objects. The houses were painted in bright colours and were on a slant which made them stand out. Another set I wish to talk about is the very first one, which was a graveyard and it is also seen as the final set of the dance. It was a dark scene and somewhat scary since the two saddest scenes of the play were set there. Again, it was very simple and only had a few gravestones dotted around the stage but it still seemed scary because of the lighting and the way the characters acted on the set.
The dances were especially good and very imaginative. Most of the dancing was done in partners with either the teenagers or the parents dancing to set the mood of the scene. The music was done very well and had a somewhat fantasy feeling to it, especially in the snow scenes. Each character also had their own particular style of dancing for example, the Goth boy danced in a very sexual and lustful was but on the other hand, the girl who Edward loves danced in a way that a cheerleader would and did a lot of leaps and turns whilst dancing.
I really enjoyed the performance because I think it was choreographed wonderfully and the dancers made it a worthwhile performance. The set design was done beautifully and the music gave it a magical touch. I would definitely recommend this dance to a variety of people, from young children who have wild imaginations to adults who still have the heart of a child. Edward Scissorhands by Matthew Bourne is not to be missed and I guarantee you will leave the theatre with a sense of magic and childhood memories from when your heart was set on your fantasies.
