Peaky Blinders may well be finished on our screens but someone like Thomas Shelby is a hard man to keep down and with such a brilliantly complex character and our insatiable appetite for all things Peaky there had to be more. There’s a movie on it’s way, we’ve got a video game, an immersive experience in London and now, we go right back to where it all began.
Take everything you love about this multi award-winning series, all the grit, passion and brutality, combine it with the brilliance of Rambert Dance and you have PEAKY BLINDERS: THE REDEMPTION OF THOMAS SHELBY which ignited the stage at the Wales Millennium Centre last night.
If you think you’ve seen dance then I challenge you to think again, this production is simply awesome. From the moment the curtain goes up you are right in heart of the story and it doesn’t let up for the next two hours – thank heavens for the interval and a breather for the performers, and us.
First of all, let’s get some reaction from the opening night audience at last night’s performance….
The first thing you might say is that you’ve never seen the TV series, nor have I. This show absolutely works as a standalone story. Of course, I know all about Thomas Shelby and what the plot is, but being an origin story you can jump straight into a new tale which begins in the hell that is the First World War trenches.
This is where we meet Thomas (GUILLAUME QUÉAU) and his brothers as they fight enemy soldiers as much as the turmoil going on in their own heads. We also have the tumultuous and passionate love affair between Thomas and Grace Burgess (NAYA LOVELL).
Let me go right back to the start of the show and talk about the actual staging. As the lights dimmed we were given the obligatory ‘turn your phones off‘ message – and ‘no fighting, by order of the Peaky Blinders,’ which made us laugh. As the curtain rose we were greeted by our main characters in the throws of war. There is a stage on top of the Donald Gordon stage, which lifts the action a further three feet from the ground.
What this creates is a kind of trench where the dancers move around, or more gruesomely, dead bodies are thrown into. As I said, I haven’t seen a lot of the TV series but as our main players came into place I’d quickly worked out who they were in the story.
These are strong men built for survival and with an opening scene filled with fighting in the trenches and many a throat being cut, we were left in no doubt as to what was to follow.
Rambert are accomplished at telling their story through dance, and Peaky Blinders is no exception. We are however given some narration from BENJAMAMIN ZEPHANIAH who is both narrator and Jeremiah.
As time went on I felt the narration became less relevant, not that we get a lot of it. Dance, and in particular the skill of Rambert, is that they can tell you a story through movement and somehow skilfully directing your eyes to the point of the story you need to focus on. They are masters of their craft in every sense.
The show opens fairly simply with a straightforward set but before long we are taken from the trenches to the fairground, factory and we even get a wedding. The set by MOI TRAN perfectly encapsulates the post war Black Country world inhabited by the Blinders. Add the traditional Blinder’s costumes by RICHARD GELLAR that we’ve come to know, love and actually wear ourselves, and you have a completely immersive story.
A little word of waning here, there are fireworks, bangs and crashes and even live shooting of guns, which prompted a whispered ‘OMG that scared the crap out of me‘ from the woman sat next to me. She’s right, it did.
The entire company are terrific, and I would point you to their cast page to see who is who in the show – HERE.
I do want to mention MUSA MOTHA, who is Peaky Blinder Barney. He is an amputee dancer who lost his left leg to bone cancer as a child. You can’t take your eyes off him. He is ferocious, rhythmic and beautiful, in equal measures and gives a completely hypnotic performance. It shows the incredible talent of the entire company and also the creative vision of Choreographer/Director BENOIT SWAN POUFFER.
As if to highlight the financial success of the Blinders, Barney’s crutch becomes a jewelled masterpiece which is equally mesmerising.
This is a dance show and as such needs great music and believe me we have that, and some. What composer ROMAN GIANARTHUR has created is a musical soundtrack which allows the dancers to express themselves fully on stage. It is though music which you would happily pay to listen to on a night out, with its mix Irish melodies, rock, punk and haunting cello.
The band are superb and as much a part of the Peaky experience as the dancers. The sound they create will blow you away.
Before you ask, yes we do get Nick Cave’s Red Right Hand, the main theme to the show. In fact, we get it twice and it’s fair to say there was a definite stirring, and quite a few audible whoops from the Wales Millennium Centre audience when the theme began.
Every emotion is felt in this production. From the horror of war to the heartache of love. It’s extravagant and gritty, imaginative and completely immersive. I could write so much more about this incredible show but I felt, on this occasion, our audience reaction said it all.
Without a shadow of doubt PEAKY BLINDERS: THE REDEMPTION OF THOMAS SHELBY is one of the most creative and visually stunning productions you’ll see this year, with a soundtrack to boot. The smooth criminals dancing on stage would make Michael Jackson proud. There is actually a bit of a nod to MJ in a creatively recreated scene which is visually stunning.
It took maybe a second for the audience to get on their feet for one of the loudest standing ovations I’ve heard for a long time. The theatre was full, and from what I could tell, a lot would be back again before the end of the week.
The show is at the Wales Millennium Centre this week through to Saturday 25th March. Performances are at 7:30pm each evening with a 2:30pm matinee on Saturday. Thursday evening is signed, Friday Closed Captioned with Audio Description on the Saturday matinee. With tickets starting at £12.50, you really don’t want to miss this production. For more details, and tickets, just go HERE.
You can read our original show feature HERE.
