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A young boy, Edward, is playing outside during a thunderstorm when he is stuck by lightning and dies. His father, an eccentric inventor is devastated by his loss and creates a human robot in an effort to replace him. But before the new Edward is finished the inventor dies of a heart attack after his home in invaded by halloween revellers.
The new Edward, unfinished, with only scissors for hands, is left to wander the streets, lost and alone. He is discovered by a young housewife, afraid of him at first as he waves his scissor hands in front of him, she soon recognises the lost soul inside and takes him into her family.
The local community are wary of him at first. But when he demonstrates considerable skill at topiary and hairdressing with his versatile scissor hands he becomes something of a celebrity. An affection begins to grow between Edward and Kim, the daughter of his new foster family, much to the consternation of Kim's overbearing boyfriend.
He also becomes an unwilling amorous target of Joyce Monroe, the local vamp, and this proves to be his undoing. Caught out in her philandering, she denounces Edward to her husband who tries to attack him. Edward, frightened tries to flee waving his scissorhands. Accidentally, blood is drawn and the whole community turn against Edward and chase him out of town.
Kim runs after Edward and finds him hiding in the cemetary by the child Edward's grave. Their romance finally begins to flourish but it is short lived as the townspeople catch up led by Kim's jealous boyfriend. He attacks Edward and more blood is drawn by Edward's scissor hands. Kim tries to protect Edward but the boyfriend throws her aside and Edward is overwhelmed by the angry mob.
Suddenly, Edward is gone, all that is left is one pair of scissors. The crowd disperse, leaving Kim clutching the scissors to lament her loss.
Matthew Bourne's choreography comprised a fusion of ballet and modern dance with a little 50's swing and swagger thrown in for good measure (though a little short on ballet for my own tastes). The story is simple and beautifully portrayed by the action so that one does not miss the lack of words nor need a prior understanding of the basic plot.
Bourne's choreography was excellent as ever and produced a number of highlights. Favourite scenes for me were the traffic scene and the dance of the bushes. In the former the families shuffled around in their groups or four with the only props being steering wheels held in front by the 'driver'. In the latter, a dozen bushes sculpted by Edward came to life in a dream sequence and joined in a dance with Edward and Kim. The most touching sequence was reserved for the very end, a dance for Edward and Kim where their love finally blossoms just before Edward is lost forever.
The sets were glorious with much attention to detail. Particularly impressive was the suburban scene where the families each come out of their seperate houses. Clever use of lighting and projection also added to the mood.
Danny Elfman's outstanding musical score from the original film was expanded and adapted for this production by Terry Davies with great effect.
One final warning, if you get a ticket for the front stalls for this production, expect to be covered in fake snow at the final curtain.
Richard Winsor was outstanding as the mop-haired, white-faced, leather-clad Edward, moving with a staccato trot, tilted head, and blank slightly bemused face. Kerry Biggin as Kim provided the love interest and gave us a couple of enjoyable dance sequences with Edward, particularly, as already mentioned, at the very end. Outstanding in character parts were Michela Meazza as the vamp Joyce Monroe who gave us some wonderful comic moments in her pursuit of the local menfolk, Adam Galbraith as Jim Upton (Kim's jealous boyfriend) and Shelby Williams as Marilyn-Ann, daughter of the ultra religious Evercreech family. A particular standout in every dance sequence in which she appeared was Sophia Hurdley as Bunny Upton, who attacked her role with the utmost joy and enthusiasm.
NB: With alternatives listed for every part in the programme the above identifications were made from the cast photo's. I apologise to the cast member concerned if I have made any mistakes.
A wonderfully enjoyable and entertaining piece of dance theatre. Not quite in the same league as Bourne's reworking of Swan Lake, but unmissable nevertheless.