Lorna Irvine finds Scottish Ballet's production 'extraordinary'.
Scottish Ballet's production of Pierrot Lunaire has exceptional power. Based on Arnold Schoenberg's ground-breaking adaptation of Albert Giraud's poetry, itself adapted for the stage by choreographer Glen Tetley in 1962, it is laced with Freudian symbolism: playful, dark and captivating.
The trio of dancers excel in this story of a corruption of innocence. Lovelorn Pierrot (Luke Ahmet) swings on his climbing frame, dreaming of winning the heart of fair yet elusive Columbine (Bethany Kingsley-Garner) until she is seduced by the menacing Brighella (Owen Thorne).
The choreography effortlessly vacillates between balletic grace, mime and saucy parody, playing with the whole virgin/whore paradigm in Columbine. All three have great expressions, both facially and in their vivacious phrasing, but it is of course Ahmet who steals hearts as the childlike and vulnerable little clown—his face does seem to belong to the silent movie era.
Musically, too, it is incredible. Soprano singer Alison Bell's voice is an amazing instrument in and of itself, swooping and growling, or making piercing cries in Schoenberg's 'Sprechstimme' (which is pitched between speaking, singing and more guttural sounds) accompanied by the wonderful RCS MusicLab. As a whole, Pierrot Lunaire is as extraordinary as the day it was conceived.
Run complete.
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