La Fille mal gardee, - Birmingham Royal Ballet, Theatre Royal Plymouth to 12 October 2024,

5✩✩✩✩✩ Review: Cormac Richards.

“An utter gem.”

 

Frederick Ashton’s 1960 re-working of the 18th Century ballet is a frothy, romantic, playful, virtually plotless spectacle – and it is an utter delight. As presented by Birmingham Royal Ballet, Ashton’s choreography and John Lanchberry’s adaptation of Ferdinand Herold’s music is exquisitely performed with a joyful vigour and with plenty of laughs along the way.

The rural setting for the tale of the Widow Simone arranging a marriage for her daughter Lise, while the eyes of Lise are on the young farmer Colas, is simple and brings with it chances for a number of perfectly staged set pieces; a maypole dance, the storm in the cornfield and an abundance of complex ribbon work, which is executed with style, add to this a cockerel dancing with a quartet of chickens and you get the idea that this isn’t to be taken too seriously. Oh, and we have to mention Oscar, the 20 year old white Welsh Mountain pony who briefly steals the show!

The joy of a full orchestra playing live cannot be overstated and under Wolfgang Heinz, the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, once again, prove themselves to be masterful in delivering a faultless performance of a most beautiful score.

Now, if ‘La Fille mal gardee’ is known for one thing it is for having a man dressed as a woman dancing in clogs; but there is so much more … of course! Lachlan Monaghan is well known for some of the big romantic male leads, Romeo, Prince Siegfried et al, but here he has licence to let his hair down and have huge fun as Simone. With a well upholstered derriere he demonstrates superb physical comedy and timing and, when it happens, the clog dance is a complete triumph.

The hugely experienced Momoko Hirata and Max Maslen bring the romantic couple to life with exquisite ease and delight with the complex pink ribbon pas de deux; there is such a purity in their performances which entrances as it impresses.

The corps de ballet, as ever with BRB, are just on the mark continually and with the challenges posed by dancing with maypoles, sticks, scythes and bundles of wheat, they are as one.

Stealing the whole production, however, is Tom Hazelby as the innocent and naïve Alain, the intended husband for Lise. This is a performance of unremitting joy. Hazelby engages the audience on entry and takes them with him throughout; his range of facial expressions is endless and his ability for physical comedy must be the envy of any actor. Add to this that his choreography has to put over his supreme awkwardness and daftness and you realise that to pull this off effectively you have to be a tremendous dancer – he is. The combination of dancer, actor and comedy has never been better illustrated and with his beloved red umbrella, the audience take Alain to their heart as he falls down stairs, flies away on his brolly and then finds it at last having been jilted. This is a performance of pure gold.

There is so much joy to be had watching this production, no it isn’t deep, meaningful or profound, it is simple, happy and performed without fuss to the highest level – sometimes we need a tonic like this and by the end I realised I still had the same smile on my face as I had at the start 

A joy. A delight. An utter gem.

 

Cast

Widow Simone – Lachlan Monaghan

Lise – Momoko Hirata

Colas – Max Maslen

Thomas – Rory Mackay

Alain – Tom Hazelby

Village Notary – Louis Andreasen

Notary’s Clerk – August Generalli

Cockerell - August Generalli

Chickens – Ariana Allen, Olivia Chang Clarke, Frieda Kaden, Mailene Katoch

Friends, Villagers, Grooms, Harvesters – Artists of Birmingham Royal Ballet

 

Creatives

Choreography – Frederick Ashton

Music – Ferdinand Herold, adapted by John Lanchbery

Scenario – Jean Dauberval

Designs – Osbert Lancaster

Lighting – Peter Teigen (adapted by Johnny Westall-Eyre)

Conductor – Wolfgang Heinz

Photo Credit – Tristram Kenton