Once upon a time there was a boy named Edward..
Based on the classic Tim Burton movie and featuring the hauntingly beautiful music of Danny Elfman and Terry Davies,this captivating , poignant Gothic fairytale tells the story of a boy created by a lonely eccentric inventor who dies leaving him alone and unfinished. With only scissors for hands, Edward manages to get to a town called Hope Springs and a kindly townswoman (Peg Boggs – Kery Biggin) invites him to live with her suburban family. Hampered by his hands, Edward struggles to find his place in this challenging suburban setting where the generally benevolent community endeavour to see past his strange appearance to the innocence and gentleness within.
The opening sequence with Edward being formed is rather like Victor Frankenstein and his creature. There is a huge grave (a la Giselle) – is the Inventor mourning his son?.
The magnificent set design, costumes, projection effects and lighting are by Lez Brotherston, Howard Harrison and Duncan McLean. There are crashes of lightning ,unearthly depictions of the Moon and remarkable illuminations in a dream sequence – the technical effects of the lighting and set design are extremely important . Lez Brotherston’s vibrant designs depict the town of Hope Springs in a spread of cutout houses, precisely formatted, shown with contrived perspective and windows that light up at night It is all very 1950’s in style and for at least some of the show, characters wear outfits with the initial of their first name ( eg E for Edward, K for Kim , J for James/ Jim).
Terry Davies’s score, based on themes by Danny Elfman,rumbles, pulsates, and crackles in a wonderful accompaniment. At one point there is a castanet like sound. The buoyancy of the scene where Edward thrillingly adjusts the town’s hair is offset by the tumultuous angry vibes of the party at which Edward’s adversary, (Jim , Kim’s boyfriend- Ben Brown) forcibly makes him drunk.
Snippets of Bourne’s choreography alludes to his Swan Lake, The Nutcracker!, Mary Poppins, and The Carman , with quotes from Grease and West Side Story and the social dances of the era .It demands long , stretched arms , several quite difficult lifts and high jumps and also includes roller skating. The vibrant group dances, full of expression, deftly move the story along, – the heading to school, the welcome barbeque (with a politician making an election speech) and the tense turmoil of the Christmas party – as Edward changes from strikingly unusual to a popular crowd pleaser and then picked on.
Out of their front doors emerge a closely studied communityeach with a defined personality: a gang of bumptious young heading to camp, some neighbours preparing for their daily jog, an ambitious Lothario who thinks he is charismatic developing his golf moves and then there is the mum who is addicted to pills and the man eating vampish Joyce Monroe ( Nicole Kabera) who attempts to seduce Edward rolling around on a beanbag , the show stopping segment concluding with an orgasm while she sits on a volcanically convulsing washing machine with her red hair fashioned into a mohawk , and the family of gay dads .
Liam Mower as Edward heartbreakingly portrays the isolated ,unique, often despairing Edward , although later he is somewhat accepted by the town when he opens Salon Edwardo and lots of people want him to refashion their hair. He also does topiary work. He is mostly dressed in an overall brown body suit (with scissor hands) . As Edward, Mower shows his developing concealed love for Kim and the joyous delight when she kisses him .Edward grows and cautiously learns how to adapt and fit in from various people in Hope Springs but is consistently innocent.
Ashley Shaw as Kim is young and sweet – a vision in marshmallow pink (there are posters on her bedroom wall as a cheerleader that Edward dreams about). Like Juliet, we see her grow and mature becoming a strong grown young woman in love. Edward and Kim have two enchanting pas de deux showing their developing feelings for each other – one is a fantasy sequence where they are surrounded by dancing topiary ( note the giraffe ! ) and Edward has hands not scissors as fingers; the other one (in live performance moving the audience to tears ), is where Edward has chiselled an ice angel, and the choreography allows Edward to lift Kim over his shoulders ,not touching her with his slicing scissors .
A poignant, thought provoking, piercing, delightful, splendidly performed production.
Running time 90 minutes (no interval for this film version.)
Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures Edward Scissorhands screens at selected cinemas from September.
Running time 90 minutes (no interval)
Cast
Edward Scissorhands: Liam Mower
Kim Boggs: Ashley Shaw
Peg Boggs: Kerry Biggin
Bill Boggs: Dominic North
Joyce Monroe: Nicole Kabera
George Monroe: Luke Murphy
Jim Upton: Ben Brown
Company:
Andrew Ashton, Stephanie Billers, Reece Causton, Jade Copas, Anna-Maria de Freitas, Perreira de Jesus Franque, Savannah Ffrench, Glenn Graham, James Lovell, Aristide Lyons, Xholindi Muci, Stephen Murray, Edwin Ray, Holly Saw, Molly Shaw-Downie, Xavier Andriambolanoro Sotiya, Mami Totani, Carrie Willis
