Charlie Chaplin esk timing and razor sharp movements meant a cut above the rest performance of Edward Scissorhands at Glasgow’s Theatre Royal.
Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures Company excelled with the ballet show which runs until Saturday and it is simply wonderful in every way, from performance to set, to music.
Stephen Murray is commanding as Edward, the boy with the flashing blades for hands, who teaches tolerance and kindness to those who are different.
Expertly adapted by Caroline Thompson from the 1990 Tim Burton film, it’s a lovely tale, told with sensitivity and feeling.
Full of comic timing, it is a bittersweet story of the incomplete boy left alone in a strange world in a castle when the eccentric inventor (Glenn Graham) who created him, dies.
With only scissors for hands, Edward heads for a nearby town and as luck would have it, stumbles across kind-hearted Peg Boggs (Kerry Biggin) who takes him in to live with her husband Bill (Dominic North) and their children Kim (Ashley Shaw) and Kevin (Jamie-Duncan Campbell).
Their neighbour Joyce Monroe (Stephanie Billers) tries to seduce Edward in front of her husband George (Luke Murphy) and children Bunny (Megan Ferguson) and Gerald (Aristide Lyons), while the rest of the community struggles to see past Edward’s curious appearance to the innocence and gentleness inside.
With hauntingly beautiful music from Danny Elfman and Terry Davies and an All-American pastel coloured set, it’s a bright show, full of graceful dancing and vibrant songs.
It’s poignant too as Edward falls in love with the Bogg’s daughter Kim, only to find he is up against her violent boyfriend Jim Upton (Benjamin Barlow Bazeley) as the battle to win her over results in blood being spilt.
The story is told through the eyes of Kim, as an elderly woman looking back on her life and telling her granddaughter about her love for Edward.
With the community made up of Charity Upton (Christina Rebecca Gibbs), Mayor Franklyn Upton III (Glenn Graham), Darlene Upton (Carrie Willis), Tiffany Covitt (Molly Shaw-Downe), Brad Covitt (Andrew Ashton), Candy Covitt ( Anna-Marie De Freitas), Chase Covitt (Xholindi Muci), Esmerelda Evercreech (Mami Tomotani), Rev Judas Evercreech (Reece Causton), Marilyn-Ann Evercreech (Alice O’ Brien), Gabriel Evercreech (Perreira de Jesus Franque), Ryan Gaibright (Barnaby Quarendon), Todd Gaibright (James Lovell), Sandra Gaibright (Savannah Ffrench), Sheldon Gaibright (Xavier Andriambolanoro Sotiiya), the production swings with enthusiasm and excellence and leaves a real good feeling in the heart!
Edward Scissorhands runs at The Theatre Royal, Glasgow until Saturday 25th May 2024, before moving to Amsterdam on 29th May. For ticket details and availability please visit: www.atgtickets.com.
Author Bio:
Rebecca Hay is an experienced travel writer and member of The British Guild of Travel Writers. Follow her adventures with her family on Twitter and Instagram @emojiadventurer and on Facebook via EmojiAdventurers2.
Photographs by Johan Persson
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