- Opening
- 2025 UK Tour
- Age
- 14+
- Running Time
- 1hr 55mins
Overall Score
Rating Overview
Rating Summary
Review: Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell at Theatre Royal Plymouth: A Riveting Night in 1930s Soho
Copyright: Cover and Production Photos: Johan Persson
🎭 Setting the Stage: Atmosphere & Design
Matthew Bourne’s new tour of the dance-thriller, The Midnight Bell, transports audiences straight into the underbelly of 1930s Soho. Lez Brotherston’s moody, minimalistic set with its drifting pub tables, street lamps, telephone box, park fences and fog‑smudged windows, paired with Paule Constable’s atmospheric lighting, instantly immerses the theatre in a hazy, period‑perfect world, you really are transported to Soho in 1930. We were delighted to even see Sir Matthew himself enjoying the performance here in Plymouth!
🕰️ Interwoven Lives Over a Single Evening
This is not a linear narrative but an tapestry of interlinked stories, each tracing the secret dreams and heartbreaks of characters gathered around the titular pub. The show is inspired by “The Midnight Bell” by Patrick Hamilton and shaped through Bourne’s impeccable choreography, the characters lonely barmaids, desperate romantics, a weary spinster, and clandestine lovers are convincingly brought to life through movement alone.
Bourne masterfully blends humour and melancholy, with moments of spontaneous charm, like the barmaid Ella torn between suitors and scenes of darker intensity, such as the betrayal of the spinster Miss Roach and a beautiful same-sex romance that unfurls throughout.
💃 Stand‑Out Performances: Romance, Despair & Desire
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Dominic North as the earnest waiter “Bob” anchors the production, his charming presence adding warmth amid the undercurrents of urban loneliness, Dominic is a sheer delight to watch and an asset to New Adventures.
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Ashley Shaw embodies the tragic grace of Jenny, a young prostitute, whose duet with Dominic is tinged with both tenderness and resignation.
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The relationship between Andrew Monaghan and Liam Mower is raw yet layered. Their portrayal of a forbidden same-sex romance in hostile 1930s Britain is breathtaking, conveying urgency and sorrow with grace. Liam’s movements are sublime (as ever) along with a sensational duet which left us in awe and wanting more.
With a cast of just 10 (it seems a lot more) super talented individuals it is clear why this production will be loved by all that go to see it.
🎶 Choreography & Soundtrack
Terry Davies’s evocative score, interspersed with muted period songs that dancers mime to, enhances the sense of time and place, this for us made the ballet a little lack lustre, I would have preferred live singing or no lip-syncing at all, it made it a little comedic (our own opinon of course but other Matthew Bourne productions are more striking) and the sound has seemed stronger before. We know that Bourne does not usually travel with an orchestra but for this production the sound was a little “tinny” and could have been much smoother, at times it was a little disjointed too. This for us pulled the show from a 5* production sadly.
Bourne’s choreography, taut, fluid, emotionally charged production evokes film noir and silent cinema style which makes each gesture count and trust us the cast shine through!
🎨 Visual Storytelling: Costumes & Lighting
Lez Brotherston’s costume palette of faded florals for the spinster, work‑worn 1930s garb for pub staff adds authenticity and depth. Paule Constable’s lighting sweeps from smokey amber to sharp streetlight, turning the stage into a living period photograph
⭐ Final Verdict
Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell is a haunting, impeccably staged dance theatre piece. It’s lyrical yet tough, bleak but deeply humane and captures both the loneliness of its era and its timeless echoes in today’s world. A compelling evening that lingers long after the final bow.
Rating: ★★★★
Whether you’re a Bourne devotee or discovering his work for the first time, The Midnight Bell is a richly evocative experience, it brimms with period charm, emotional intensity, and superb dancer-actor performances. A must-see this summer and beyond.
You can book UK tour tickets here. View the 2025 UK Tour trailer below:
