REVIEW - Rambert's Peaky Blinders is powerful, emotional and exhilarating throughout!

On Tuesday, we went to the The Lowry in Salford to see Rambert's Peaky Blinders. Read what our reviewer, Julie Wilson had to say about this excellent production...

Peaky Blinders brought to the stage with the power of dance by the creator Steven Knight and choreographer Benoit Swan Pouffer was definitely worth the full house standing ovation.|

The Rambert dance experience is one not to be missed! The on stage live band led by Musical director Yaron Engler with the use of electric guitars brings the gritty and tense scenes to life. It opens with ‘Last breath as a free man’ and had the audience captured from the start. The dancers appear through the smoke wearing army uniforms escaping the trenches of World War One and the opening for the troubled Tommy Shelby.

Next the horse racing empire begins led by the powerful Polly Gray played by Simone Damberg Wurtz.  Simone accurately conveyed the powerful and confident nature of Polly Gray through her demeanour and her strong and precise dance moves. The carousel horses pushed around the stage as props for the dancers to climb over brought life to the stage and set the scene with the hustle and bustle of race day.

The men Tommy, Arthur, Barney, John and Jeremiah return from the war and the iconic ‘Red Right Hand’ by Nick Cave begins. The stage is now lights and streamers with the female dancers appearing in suits and the masculine male dancers in sequin leotards, the fast pace and slick movement of the dancers made this a powerful yet entertaining scene.

The choreography by Beniut Swan Pouffer powerfully conveyed the different themes and emotions of not only the characters, particularly Tommy Shelbys grief and loss over losing his wife Grace but the powerful movements of the dancers during the fight scenes. Dancers fall on and off-stage and the slow-motion lifts, punch and kicks are a particularly good effect at capturing the chaos of the violent fight scenes. The dance surrounded by loud pistol cracks and fire are all impressive in setting the gritty gangland of the Peaky Blinders not forgetting the clever glimmer from the blades tucked within the caps which catch the lighting just enough to let you know they are there.

The love story between Tommy and Grace is beautiful and Naya Lovell seems weightless as she elegantly but seductively floats around the stage. Naya Lovell performance of Grace although less innocent as the original tv series character was powerful and sensual as she entered the stage as a nightclub singer dressed in green velvet.

Conor Kerrigan who played Tommy captured his confidence but also his vulnerability. It follows his grief for Grace and the harrowing scenes where he is trapped in his opium addiction. The choreography by the dancers within this scene enabled us to want Tommy to break free of this addiction. Of particular note during this scene was Barney played by Max Day’s solo which was mesmerising, and he had the audience captivated with his effortless moves.

The first half is fast paced with very physical dance which carried so much power into each scene. The second half plays out the recurring dreams and opium fuelled days of Tommy which although slower in pace were certainly powerful and emotional. Although effective, I felt this went on for longer than possibly necessary to capture the impact on Tommy.

The recurring theme tune of Peaky Blinders (red right hand) was very powerful, particularly when combined with the sharp, simultaneous choreography of the cast.

The costumes by Richard Gellar of the peaky Blinders closely replicated the costumes from the series even including the 'razors’ in the flat caps. The lavish costumes for dancers in the Eden club transported us back to the 1920s. Of note was the cursed gypsy necklace placed around Grace’s neck before she was shot and killed. The incorporation of that necklace into choreography to convey Tommy Shelby’s grief was very effective.

The choreography throughout the performance was diverse and varied which kept the audience very interested. In order to convey the interactions between the police and the peaky blinders, dancers dressed in leather as dogs, handled by ‘police officers on a leash were effective to convey a police chase.

The lighting (Natasha Chivers) of the performance was also very effective, particularly when conveying the dark and dismal streets of Birmingham just after WW1. The yellow lighting, akin to a sunset was also very effective to demonstrate the recurring presence of Grace in Tommy’s mind, even after her death.

The live 3-piece band placed above the stage kept the momentum of the fast-changing scenes from WW1 trenches, opium dens to the mass brawls along with the striking and captivating scenes by Moi Tran. The stage was divided with a ditch which dancers would move in and out of added to the slick changing of scenes.

Not to forget the voiceover by Benjamin Zephaniah which helped to move the story forward and create the iconic dark theme of this powerful drama series.

I am not sure that I will be able to hear Nick Caves ‘Red Right Hand’ without visualising the movement of the whole cast upon the stage. Contemporary dance bringing a serious dark crime series to life, certainly did not disappoint, and I will be following the Rambert dance company anticipating their next performance!

I could not imagine how they would fit six series into just under 2 hours and to portray such a successful period crime drama with dance, but it certainly did not disappoint. It was powerful, emotional and exhilarating throughout.

WE SCORE RAMBERT'S PEAKY BLINDERS...



Rambert's Peaky Blinders is on at The Lowry until Sat 26 October


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