REVIEW: A Tale of Two Cities VIDEO
PERHAPS it's a sign of our credit-crunch times, when the ordinary ballet lover in the street is feeling disenfranchised and cheated by the wheeling and dealing of power brokers and bankers, but Madame Defarge gets my vote every time.
In Dickens's classic story of the consequences when two worlds, let alone cities, collide, she is the scheming crone who knits the names of aristocrats into a death sentence: cold, calculating and callous.
Click on the green play button to see an interview with children from Bailey-Cox Academy featuring in the ballet
You come to fear her and recognise she is the cruel heart of all revolutions.
Brought to life by Victoria Sibson, you see her in a different light: a tough woman in a hard world, making difficult decisions and sticking by them. Perhaps we need such an Iron Lady now...
She stalks the performance of this utterly memorable adaptation with consummate confidence, leading her deux Vengeances on a dance of death targeted at a nation's haughty aristocracy.
Of course, much of the success of Victoria's performance is due to matching her against the imperious Marquis de St Evremonde, given blue-blooded, cold-blooded reality by Northern Ballet's Steven Wheeler.
It is said that he has 'created many unforgettable roles'. This is another, justly so, as he retires next year.
Tobias Batley gives a powerful and compelling performance as the Marquis's estranged son, Charles Darnay. Paired with Kenneth Tindall as the fatalistic Sydney Carton, they bring to life the complexity of Dickens's story with real energy and compassion.
Add the charms and elegance of Kekri, as Lucie Manette, and you have a truly wonderful experience.
Just what is needed to escape our credit-crunch gloom.
What do you think? Add your comments below.
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Tuesday 22 May 2012
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