Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty review: an ‘irresistible’ Gothic fairy tale
Bourne’s dance-theatre production has now been revived at Sadler’s Wells

“Sleeping Beauty and vampires.” That unlikely pairing, said Lyndsey Winship in The Guardian, is the crux of Matthew Bourne’s “irresistible” dance-theatre production, which premiered in 2012 and which has now been revived at Sadler’s Wells, in advance of a lengthy UK tour.
Set to Tchaikovsky’s music, but with choreography that progresses from the conventionally balletic to more contemporary idioms, this gleefully over-the-top show packs in many of Bourne’s favourite things: a “fairy-tale twist, period details, farce and comedy of manners, visual humour”, and wittily extravagant designs courtesy of long-time collaborator Lez Brotherston.
In this reworking of the traditional ballet, Princess Aurora has already met her beloved, the royal gamekeeper Leo, when she falls into her 100-year sleep. “So how to keep him alive for a century and keep their love story going? Simple,” said Debra Craine in The Times. Make him a vampire, courtesy of a bite from Count Lilac, a “benevolent vampire fairy king”.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Ashley Shaw and Andrew Monaghan make a “delightful” Aurora and Leo, said Charlotte Vickers in What’s On Stage. And Paris Fitzpatrick is “wonderfully creepy” as both Carabosse, the vampire fairy, and Caradoc, Leo’s love rival. The overall effect is of a “properly Gothic fairy tale”, one “that can blow away adults or children, with its balance of camp, giggles, and emotional punches”.
To me, the piece lacks the “emotional wallop” of Bourne’s very best work, said David Jays in the London Evening Standard – owing in part to a plot that feels forced rather than “gorgeously inevitable”. Still, Bourne’s “gothed up” Sleeping Beauty is a “sumptuous and ingenious ride”.
No, its “not quite top-flight Bourne”, agreed Mark Monahan in The Daily Telegraph. But it’s a “superior” piece of entertainment that “belts along with considerably more drama and purpose than most Sleeping Beautys”. There’s “collective fire and purpose” to the performances, and a mischievous swagger to the whole evening. “I suggest you get your teeth into [it] before daybreak sometime soon.”
Sadler’s Wells, London EC1 until 15 January, then touring until 29 April (new-adventures.net)
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-war
Talking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
-
Crossword: September 14, 2025
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Sudoku medium: September 14, 2025
The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
A tour of Sri Lanka’s beautiful north
The Week Recommends ‘Less frenetic’ than the south, this region is full of beautiful wildlife, historical sites and resorts
-
Giorgio Armani obituary: designer revolutionised the business of fashion
In the Spotlight ‘King Giorgio’ came from humble beginnings to become a titan of the fashion industry and redefine 20th century clothing
-
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale – a ‘comfort’ watch for fans
The Week Recommends The final film of the franchise gives viewers a chance to say goodbye
-
The Paper: new show, same 'warmth and goofiness'
The Week Recommends This spin-off of the American version of The Office is ‘comfortingly and wearyingly familiar’
-
Rachel Jones: Gated Canyons – ‘riotously colourful’ works from an ‘exhilarating’ painter
The Week Recommends The 34-year-old is the first artist to take over Dulwich Picture Gallery’s main space
-
Born With Teeth: ‘mischievously provocative’ play starring Ncuti Gatwa
The Week Recommends ‘Sprightly’ production from Liz Duffy Adams imagines the relationship between Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe
-
Art review: Lorna Simpson: Source Notes
Feature Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, through Nov. 2
-
Jessica Francis Kane's 6 favorite books that prove less is more
Feature The author recommends works by Penelope Fitzgerald, Marie-Helene Bertino, and more