Katy Hancock visits the Ustinov in Bath to see a former dance student from Bath on the stage
Laurel Dalley Smith has returned to the Theatre Royal’s Ustinov stage for the first time since her debut at age nine. A student of Bath’s Dorothy Coleborn School of Dance, now a member of the Martha Graham Dance Company in New York, Laurel’s performance in this world premiere of Minotaur is breathtaking.
Choreographed by Olivier Award-winning choreographer Kim Brandstrup, Minotaur combines lyrical contemporary with rock climbing and hints of Brazilian capoeira, woven together with haunting ballet lines.
Showcasing the talents of Tommy Franzen (2012 Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance) and Jonathan Goddard (the first contemporary dancer to win the Critics’ Circle Award for Best Male Dancer), Laurel plays the heart-breaking role of Ariadne to explore the Greek tale of Theseus and the Minotaur. Her reluctant betrayal of her half-brother, the fated bull, her passionate love for and her abandonment by its killer Theseus, is accompanied by intoxicating music and clever lighting, although it is the pared back, but ambitious staging that deserves its own award.
With climbing wall holds circulating the stage, Brandstrup celebrates the athleticism of his dancers and in so doing removes any distractions from his choreography. The dancers are the heart and soul of this beautiful piece, and their bravery and physicality caused the audience to audibly gasp at regular intervals.
As if this were not enough for one evening, Minotaur is prefaced by the singularly powerful and explosive operatic performance of Olivier Award nominee Christine Rice in Benjamin Britten’s Phaedra.
A perfect pairing for this Greek myth double-bill, Phaedra is the second production of internationally acclaimed and multi award-winning theatre and opera director Deborah Warner’s inaugural season as Artistic Director of the Ustinov Studio. Following the success of her 2020 production at the Royal Opera House, director Deborah Warner and Christine Rice have re-imagined Britten’s intense and evocative cantata Phaedra in a version specially developed for the intimate space of the Ustinov Studio, with spine tingling piano accompaniment by Richard Hetherington.
Written in 1975, Benjamin Britten’s cantata Phaedra was his last vocal work, and his scalding score is the perfect accompaniment to Phaedra and Theseus’s doomed wedding day. Having instantly fallen in love with her intended’s son, Hippolytus, Phaedra is consumed by lust and a longing for a love she knows cannot be requited, and death becomes her only escape.
Intensifying the powerfully emotional talents of Rice, the superb lighting and reflective staging panels serve to both heighten the constantly battling shades of light and dark within the piece. From guilt, lust, shame, and envy through to relief and emancipation following her confession and suicide, the dramatic shadows synchronise the roles of Phaedra, the Minotaur – her half-brother, and Hippolytus with the visceral emotions of the cantata.
Do not hesitate in booking tickets for this rare and unprecedented spectacle. I took my 11-year-old daughter, and this was both an excellent introduction to opera and an inspiring opportunity to witness the power of dance to bring an ancient myth to life.
Phaedra and Minotaur appears at the Ustinov Studio at the Theatre Royal Bath from Friday 12th August to Tuesday 23rd August. Tickets are on sale at the Theatre Royal Bath Box Office on 01225 448844 and online at www.theatreroyal.org.uk/ustinov
Main image Jonathan Goddard and Laurel Dalley Smith perform Minotaur (Photo: Foteini Christofilopoulou)