The British Choreographer Matthew Bourne is unquestionably one of the most innovative forces in dance today. His productions contain many classic cinema  references and draw thematic inspiration from musicals, film noir and popular culture.  Popular novels and films usually form the basis for his work but Bourne’s dance adaptations often outshine the original For example, his 1995 unforgettable restaging of Tchaikovsky‘s Swan Lake updated the ballet’s setting, narrative  using all-male swans. It went on to be the longest-running ballet in London’s West End and New York City’s Broadway and earned him the distinction  as the only British director to win both ‘Best Choreographer’ and ‘Best Director’ in the same year at the 1999 Tony Awards.  Bourne has alos received multiple awards and award nominations, including the Laurence Olivier Award,  Drama Desk Award, and  also received several honorary doctorates of arts from UK universities.  In 2016 he was knighted by HM The Queen ‘For Services To Dance”.

Bourne’s latest production curenty running in London is  The Midnight Bell is an adaptation of Patrick Hamilton‘s 1929 novel of the same name .  Bourne subtitled the piece Intoxicated Tales from Darkest Soho, and set it in a smokey 1930s London pub called The Midnight Bell. The narrative centres on ten of Hamilton’s original characters’ intertwined lives. One of the highliughts of the piece is the bittersweet, clandestine, romance between West End chorus boy, Albert, and off-duty police officer, Frank, focusing on a whole era of long forgotten gay history and experience. These are the only characters in the show that are not directly taken from a Patrick Hamilton novel, but they perfectly take us to the heart of that secret longing that The Midnight Bell is all about.  Albert and Frank  are performed by Liam Mower and Andy Monaghan and here are two of their eloquent dances