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Matthew Bourne, the man credited with redefining ballet, is bringing his production of Edward Scissorhands to Sydney. The dance genius spoke with Peter Hackney.
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Matthew Bourne is one of the most exciting and accomplished dance choreographers in the world.
His electrifying productions of ballet classics like The Nutcracker and Swan Lake, his Olivier and Tony Awards, and his box-office success on the West End and Broadway, all attest to a man at the top of his game.
But he wasn’t always the successful, confident person he is today.
“I felt very much an outsider when I was younger,” he tells SX. “I was born in East London, in a rough area, and went to an all-boys school, which was all about sports and ‘manly’ activities. And not being interested in those things, and being gay, I didn’t fit in.”
Little wonder, then, that Bourne’s next production is about the life of an outsider; perhaps the ultimate outsider, Edward Scissorhands.
A stage adaptation of the 1990 Tim Burton film, Matthew Bourne’s Edward Scissorhands plays the Sydney Opera House for two weeks from May 29.
“In some ways, it’s very faithful to the film,” Bourne explains. “It’s done in the spirit of the film and I’d describe it as a dance theatre version of that story.
But it’s kind of hard to define. It seems like you’re watching a musical, but nobody sings. And after a while, you realise that nobody’s spoken either – there’s literally no dialogue throughout the entire show.
“We did it in the States last year, and there was an expectation of songs. People thought it was going to be a stage musical. The audience was looking at each other about 10 minutes into it, going, ‘When’s someone gonna do a song?’ It was a case of winning over this audience each evening – and that’s what happened. We got a standing ovation at every single show in the States.”
‘Winning over’ is an understatement. The US reception was ecstatic. The Los Angeles Times raved that it was “Bourne’s most enduring creation. Edward Scissorhands casts its spell and you’re hooked.”
The New York Times advised, “Just bring your eyes and ears and marvel at the inventions of Mr Bourne’s theatrical imagination.” The general consensus was that the show was a piece of escapism par excellence.
Which is not surprising considering Bourne’s history. “Growing up, I was very much an escapist,” he reveals. “I immersed myself in this fantasy world that revolved around old movies and dance and showbusiness.”
The quest to escape the harsh reality of his East End life led to a peculiar hobby – that of autograph hunting – which Bourne pursued with gusto in his teenage years, with his similarly disaffected friend, Simon. It was this hobby that introduced Bourne to the world of showbusiness and put him on the path to a life in The Theatre.
“My Mum took me to see a performance in the West End when I was 13,” he recounts. “I can’t remember what, but it was an opening night and there were all these famous people there and I thought, ‘God, you can actually meet these people!’ So star-seeking and autograph hunting became the primary focus of my teenage years. It was all stage doors and hotels and first nights.”
Young Matthew and Simon went on to meet many of the greats of stage and screen, including Fred Astaire, Charlie Chaplin, Bette Davis, Gene Kelly and Elizabeth Taylor.
“Elizabeth Taylor was particularly nice to us,” Bourne recalls. “She got to know us, introduced us to her daughter … one day she showed us this funny t-shirt she had, which said: ‘I’m not Elizabeth Taylor, stop following me.’ She was going to wear it to ward off some of her scary fans! She was always really nice to us because we were just two polite, sweet little English boys.”
Tellingly, it was Fred Astaire who made the greatest impression on the teenage Bourne.
“Fred Astaire was my real idol. I was just in awe. I used to see him quite regularly – he came to London a lot in the ’70s – and I got in with him a bit. He used to recognise me and say hello; he was just a real gent. I recently met his daughter, Ava Astaire, who’s become a friend, and that’s been a real thrill, having that link with him.”
Like Astaire in his time, Bourne has developed a reputation for revolutionising dance – specifically ballet, in Bourne’s case. It’s a mantle the choreographer accepts with some ambivalence.
“Whether I’ve revolutionised ballet depends on what people mean by ballet,” he muses. “I’ve re-invented, possibly, the idea of what dance can do – that it can be more about story-telling and more populist. Ballet itself? Not really. I don’t do point work; I don’t deal with that kind of tradition.
“Perhaps I’ve re-invented the idea of what works in dance with big audiences – made it more accessible to a cross-section of people. The audiences themselves are proof of that, in a way. My audiences aren’t normal dance audiences.”
Matthew Bourne’s Edward Scissorhands: Opera Theatre, Sydney Opera House, 29 May-14 June, 2008. Tickets $45-$130 from sydneyoperahouse.com or (02) 9250 7111.
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