Mathew Bourne's Red Shoes
The Red Shoes
Milton Keynes Theatre (UK Tour)
Review Complete
“Matthew Bourne is a genius.”
10th February 2026
I first saw the film of Hans Andersen’s story of The Red Shoes when I was a child taking ballet lessons, and I loved it at once. It’s quite a dark story that doesn’t have a very happy ending and yet it is beautiful and compelling. And now Matthew Bourne has brought this wonderful piece to a whole new generation with his exceptional reimagining.
Everything about this production worked so well. The set looked beautiful with its lovely golden Victorian proscenium arch from which hung two sumptuous crimson curtains and it was practical too as it turned to reveal the front or back depending on whether the cast were on or off stage in the ballet.
The costumes in the ballet sections were beautiful but the day wear costumes were also extremely elegant with great attention to the detail of the period. The dancers were all excellent and its hard to pick one from another but massive credit must go to Cordelia Braithwaite who played Victoria Page, the rising star. Her dancing was superb and she bought such sensitivity to the role.
I was very interested in the fact that Matthew Bourne didn’t use the music from the original film, but chose instead to use the music of film composer Bernard Hermann, which worked very well. Much of this music, which came from films such as Citizen Kane, The Ghost and Mrs Muir and Fahrenheit 451, is having its first outing in a theatre.
For anyone who likes dance, this is an unbeatable evening out so if you can get to Milton Keynes theatre, do not miss this wonderful ballet.
It is also touring around the country so you can catch it at the following places -
Woking,
Liverpool,
Cardiff,
Southampton,
Birmingham,
Canterbury,
Edinburgh and
Newcastle
Click here to see the trailer
Reviewer: Julia Rufey
Photography: Johan Persson
We are Gifted tickets so that in return we may give an honest review. All comments are those of the reviewer and theirs alone.