Stage Review: Matthew Bourne's The Midnight Bell at the Theatre Royal

Think ballet you may think classical white tutus and Swan Lake. Think Sir Matthew Bourne + ballet and you may think of men in those white tutus, or Edward Scissor Hands leaping across the stage. This new Matthew Bourne original production is something else entirely, The Midnight Bell is a smoky, emotionally moving ballet that has you feeling as though you are at times watching a feature film, so dramatic and demonstrative is the choreography.

The Midnight Bell is an original work by Matthew Bourne and company born out of feelings of isolation and loneliness post lock down in 2021. Matthew had been researching the great British novelist Patrick Hamilton who wrote gritty and haunting novels from the 1920s through to the 1950s including the famous thriller Gaslight.

Hamilton wasn't a writer who moved in literary society circles, he was a hard drinking man of the pub, who wrote about the common man / woman, their lives, loves, hardships, victories and defeats.  Both Matthew and Terry Davies, who wrote the original score for this production, devoured his books and brought characters and scenarios from many of them together in one place – a 1930s Soho pub, The Midnight Bell.

The movements are precise but fluid, sensual and expressive, so you are never in doubt as to what is happening.  A cast packed with Bourne’s most experienced dancer/actor talent alongside newer faces are absolutely superb. They glide through Lez Brotherston’s set which is simple but at the same time brimming with period detail. The evening London streets are transformed by the placement of a bar, a bed or a bench and then the dancers work their magic along with the subtle but incredibly atmospheric lighting from Paule Constble.

12 people (six couples) are presented to us.  You don’t know their names unless you peer at the programme, but each is taken from one of Hamilton’s books and each has a need, a longing for connection, love, companionship - a feeling felt by so many during the Covid lock down.

Customers and staff in the Midnight Bell meet and interact, we see introductions, propositions, liaisons, finding love and making do. Each couple carries on their own interactions throughout the performance, moving gracefully around the pub and other dimly lit and smoky locations in early 1930s central London.

The choreography is jaw dropping, as these individual movement share the same time, space and props. Never meeting, they are like whisps of smoke swirling around on the wind but never mixing.

At the end of Act One we see the couples moving away together and you wonder how long each relationship may last.  Act Two is one month later, a return to the Midnight Bell and some sense of what came of them after those few nights in Soho.  Some have found love, most something a little less, the world turns and life moves on. The audience are invited to draw their own conclusions.

Those stopping after the Tuesday night performance were treated to a brief Q & A with Sir Matthew Bourne and that is where you learn of the passion that went in to this production.  A true collaborative production not just bringing together music and lighting with the directors vision but also the dancers themselves.  I was surprised how much input and influence they have - it is quite an organic creation between from the dancers and creative team who make up the company, and I believe that is why his productions are like no other.

I sat next to a lady whose friend had brought her along to see The Midnight Bell as her first ballet.  She would be hard pressed to find a better ‘first ballet’.  The Midnight Bell shows you everything that ballet can be.  White tutus and feathers are beautiful but there is so much more to experience from Bourne's cinematic blend of dance and acting in this gorgeous escape to '30s London noire.

Matthew Bourne's New Adventures - The Midnight Bell plays at Nottingham's Theatre Royal from Tuesday 2 to Saturday 6 September 2025.