To say that expectations were running high for this new dance version of the extraordinary 1979 film Quadrophenia would be to understate the atmosphere in the audience before the beginning of the show. Not only is Pete Townshend the writer of this adaptation, but uber-cool clothes designer Paul Smith provides the costume designs. The stakes were high.
It is therefore sad to relate that what was presented was nowhere near as successful as the audience wished it to be. Perhaps that was bound to be the outcome from the outset, but the production, slick as it is, fails to deliver in terms of narrative, characterisation and period style. Let it be said from the off that the cast of dancers is terrific, fully invested in the concept and giving their all in every scene. They were led by Paris Fitzpatrick as Jimmy – what we would now consider to be an archetype of a disaffected youth, desperate to escape his humdrum life. Fitzpatrick is well-known to audiences as one of Matthew Bourne’s go-to artists, and he worked hard to establish his character, bringing detail and not a little sense of spontaneity; he is a lithe, flexible and expressive dancer. Alas, all other parts in comparison are seriously underbaked, lacking the detailing of the film. And therein lies the first of the problems with this ambitious undertaking – scenes come and go (there are 13 in the first half alone), as do their dancers, but with little meaningful interaction between them, we, as audience-members, can only glean the vaguest of impressions of who they are and what they represent. Thus, Jack Widdowson’s rock star The Godfather preens and struts, and so we know that he is an arrogant type – it doesn’t go much further than that. When Jimmy bumps into an old friend from his childhood (who happens to be rocker), they gambol and play-fight like little boys to show us the nature of their friendship; nothing more. The only exception is the sequence when Jimmy’s alcoholic, depressive father (an excellent Stuart Neal) is shown in flashback when he was a soldier during the war and witness to the deaths of many of his comrades. Here we understand why he is as he is, but, fatefully, in terms of the main narrative, it is superfluous, because its focus is firmly on the youthful Jimmy and his desire to ‘break free’.
The set and video designs are outstanding, a seamless fusion of physical sets and props and video projections, taking us neatly from Brighton Beach (with swirling sea) to Jimmy’s suburban house to the streets of Soho in a trice. Paul Smith’s costumes are not consistently in period; when they evoke the mod styles of 1965, they are spot-on, but there are other moments when it is a little more blurred.
It is that sense of blurring which is the overall impression generated by this production; Quadrophenia the film is such a focussed evocation of time and place, whereas Quadrophenia – A Mod Ballet is not. There are two main reasons for this: soupy full-on orchestrations of The Who’s songs and a one-size fits all approach to the choreography.
In 2015, Rachel Fuller (Pete Townshend’s partner) opted to create a score for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and a 100-piece choir; what this production has is that recording minus the vocal contributions. In expanding out the songs, the edge and bite of the originals have been lost, the ‘sound of an era’ drowned in a broad, ‘classical’ orchestral mush. Without that edge in the sound world, the stage action is almost doomed to fail in its portrayal, and that is precisely what happens. Not that the choreography by Paul Roberts (and his three assistants) makes much of an impression, being in a generalised, rather generic contemporary style, showing a penchant for high lifts and elaborate arm gestures. Fatally, it is almost completely out of period, far away from the popular dance movements of the mid-60s. Only fitfully is that world evoked and makes its absence much of the time to be regretted all the more; one would not want ‘pure 60s’ throughout because that would result in pastiche, but the effect could have been greater if there had been more thought as to its inclusion in the overall movement palette. Quadrophenia – A Mod Ballet has a great deal to commend it in terms of design and performance, but it cannot overcome the gnawing sense of a lack of focus in terms of time and style.
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