The Car Man, Matthew Bourne’s raunchy noir ballet inspired by Bizet’s Carmen, takes up residence at Sadlers Wells
This article was first published on London Unattached
I’ll be honest. The first time I saw Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man on its London premiere at the Old Vic in 2000, I disliked it intensely. Since then, Matthew Bourne’s tale of sex, sleaze, jealousy and murder among car mechanics in 1950s small town America, very loosely inspired by Bizet’s opera Carmen, has split critical opinion, garnered awards, toured nationally and internationally and was last seen in London in 2022 at the Royal Albert Hall, its larger than life exuberance proving a perfect match for that vast venue. Now it’s back for a summer residency at Sadler’s Wells.
Each outing offered an opportunity for reassessment, because Matthew Bourne is well know for changing and refining works every time they’re brought back, so that, in his own words, no production by his New Adventures company is simply “revived”- rather, it’s newly questioned with each cast.
And so, although I still don’t rate The Car Man as among Bourne’s best, say Swan Lake, or my very favourite The Midnight Bell, it has grown on me somewhat. Its unflagging energy is quite irresistible, even if its profuse scenes of simulated copulation hover uncomfortably between sexy and simply silly, and at two hours, including one interval, it tells its story with pace and efficiency. More importantly, the cast clearly relish it and to the last person give vibrant, impassioned, deeply theatrical performances.
It’s not – stress not – the story of Bizet’s Carmen we know and love, though it’s danced to Rodion Shchedrin Carmen Suite (after Bizet), orchestrated and augmented by Terry Davies. It’s played live with brio by the New Adventures Orchestra, conducted by Benjamin Pope. The central figure, the titular Car Man, is Luca, a stranger who arrives at the Italian-American town of Harmony (pop 375) and takes up a job in a garage owned by the brutish Dino.
Luca’s arrival disrupts the precarious balance of the small town. With Bourne acknowledging his passion for, and debt to cinema, think Terence Stamp as The Stranger in Pasolini’s Theorem, or even more to the point, the 1940s noir The Postman Always Rings Twice. Luca catches the eye of Lana, Dino’s oversexed, frustrated, abused wife, and before long the two are having steamy sex all over the shop.
He also catches the eye of Angelo, the odd jobs man, a gentle gay youth, who’s the butt of everybody’s mockery and bullying in scenes so cruel they are hard to watch. Luca has sex with Angelo, too – Bourne is proud of the fact that back in 2000 this was possibly the first bisexual character in any mainstream show. From then on the tragedy unfolds with the impetus of a steam-roller pitching downhill out of control – but you’ll find no spoilers here. Well, maybe just a teaser or two…
Part of The Car Man’s appeal lies with Lez Brotherston’s superlative sets and costumes, complemented by Chris Davey’s excellent lighting design. The front halves of two period cars dominate the stage, with Dino’s office sandwiched between them and the frontage of Dino’s diner. At the back, a multipurpose two-storey structure serves variously as the flat above the shop, a forbidding prison, and the shower room where the mechanics clean up after work. Yes, starkers.
Bourne’s choreographic language is an eloquent blend of musical theatre (think Jets and Sharks) for some of the ensemble numbers, with quotes from classical and contemporary dance. It’s energetic, often sexy and quite graphic, but capable of tremendous tenderness in the sequences for Angelo and Rita, the girl who loves him no matter what. For the story to carry, it requires dance actors of the highest calibre and on the press performance I attended, Bourne veteran Ashley Shaw was totally convincing as Lana – I particularly admired the way in which she used her eyes as instruments of seduction. As Luca, Will Bozier conveyed the character’s transition from mysterious outsider, seemingly in charge, to guilt-ridden drunk, whose life has spiralled out of control. Harry Ondrak-Wright skilfully managed Luca’s transition from wronged youth to half-crazed man hellbent on revenge; and Anna-Maria de Freitas portrayed Rita’s innocent, faithful love with endearing realism. Throughout The Car Man‘s run, different casts will be given the chance to embody these much-coveted roles.
© Teresa Guerreiro
(Banner image: Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man. Harrison Dowzell (Luca) and Company. Photo Johan Persson)
Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man is at Sadler’s Wells 28 July – 29 August