Review: Coppelia, Theatre Royal
THIS was the tale of the eccentric doll-maker Dr Coppelius.
The tale was familiar, and so was the music, judging by the reaction among the Theatre Royal audience, in a packed matinee house.
Some were conducting as the story unfolded, while others waited until the final curtain call to unleash their whoops of approval fore the dozens of youngsters involved in this English Youth Ballet production.
Despite the sheer number of minors on stage, it was a fantastically polished and professional show, and even when every child took to the stage in the last act, all their manoeuvres were well executed, (although the section where every single performer got their a chance in the spotlight was a little over-long). Having said that, when the stage was full of pink as swathes of performers found their place, it was a truly spectacular sight.
Told in three acts, all the lead performances ensured the story was easily understood, the doll-maker (Trevor Wood) sporting odd stockings and raising laughs from the crowd with his antics. The Coppelia doll, Grace Carr, had her performance down to a tee, ably supported (again) by all of those children. Even the smallest performers, when they were pretending to be dolls in the shop, remained so still they could have been genuine mannequins!
For those who don’t know, Franz believes he has seen a beautiful girl, vows to find her but discovers she’s a doll. Coppelius uses a potion to help bring her to life but finds he’s been hoodwinked…
The costumes of the main characters and all the dolls – whether soldier dolls, the Chinese dolls or even the villagers – make this performance stand out as one of quality.
It’s just one of four English Youth Ballet performances on tour this year, the others being The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty and Giselle, so catch one if you can.
Announcing … the DOLLS