Matthew Bourne's 'Early Adventures' at Sadler's Wells

Matthew Bourne's 'Early Adventures' is on tour at the moment and this week the production called in at Sadler's Wells so, naturally, I went to see it. It's a collection of three short plays: 'Spitfire', 'Town & Country' and 'Infernal Galop'. All are great fun and I sat there with a silly smile on my face for most of the time, wondering how dance can make me smile...

'Spitfire' is the tale of four young gentlemen posing in their underwear, making moves of putting on clothes but somehow failing to become clothed.  Yes, lads in pants. They can't help pulling poses as they dance, very aware that an audience is watching them and playing to the audience during the ensemble as well as solo pieces. There's the unspoken rivalry of who looks best in their clean, white underwear (not the oft-washed and fading things most of us wear), the comparing of biceps, the flexing of thighs and contorted poses they find themselves in.

Because it's lads in pants then they tend to feature in the posters and suchlike but the performance only lasts about 15 minutes, the shortest of the evening.

'Town and Country' is just that - a sequence of dances in a town environment then a sequence about the country (the first half-time splits town from country). 'Town' begins with a group of friends arriving at a train station, getting to the townhouse, a couple being bathed and dressed for an evening out and a lovely sequence of the friends whizzing about the stage on scooters. I particularly liked the scene of the couple being bathed - him by the butler and her by the maid - when they seemed to not want to get dressed but the servants somehow manage to get them into clothes.  There's also a great skit (or homage?) to 'Brief Encounter'.

After the interval we were given 'Country', with country yokels and milkmaids and even some (rather elaborate) clog dancing. At one point the universal tongue of dance attracted some country creatures (in the form of glove puppets behind fences) - a fox, a hedgehog and a bunny rabbit - to watch the goings on. Unfortunately the hedgehog got stamped on and, when the brave bunny tried to revive it realised it was dead and slowly removed it from the stage to rousing laughter. To continue the theme, we see a solemn funeral procession for the hedgehog later in the performance that had everyone laughing. The bunny is the real hero.

Just as 'Town' ended with the urban phenomenon of scooters, 'Country' ended with a riding scene, with the dancers riding imaginary horses very effectively. It was all very chortlesome.

After a second half-time we had 'Infernal Galop' set in Paris in the 1940s (or '50s) with Piaf-esque women in knee-length skirts dancing around Paris. There's a very strange sea-scape scene with odd, fishy dancing to 'The Sea' song. The main scene here is an attempted seduction at a pissoire with one lad being the seducer and another in boxer-shorts wanting to be seduced. Just when they reach the point of consummating their lust a band in red berets jump on stage to serenade them. That rather puts a damper on things. After a few attempts and few coitus interuptus moments, the seducer gives up and walks off with boxer-lad's jacket.

I thoroughly enjoyed all three performances, all by the same troupe of nine dancers (six lads and three lasses). I think the tour is continuing around the UK so, if you get the chance, go and see it. I'd happily see it again!