Jo Turbitt reviews a productions that has 'an abundance of potential' but gets lost.
Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby is posited as a prequel to the TV series. It has gorgeous moments where the physical authenticity emerges and where the movement is as gritty, divine, evocative and as intoxicating as the score—the soundtrack is immense!
The piece has a strong opening 40 to 45 minutes before it veers off, getting lost in trying to be all things to both the Peaky fan and to the Rambert fan. In doing so (technically succumbing to populism), the show gets lost in translation and loses its edge. Strip away the under-developed moments—the love story and the props along with the staging (which only hinders) and the acting—and concentrate on the grit, the physicality and the potential magic that lies within the chemistry between the score, the talents of the cast and the phwoar that a collaboration between Rambert and Peaky Blinders has to offer.
At the interval, an audience member behind me commented to their partner: ‘You know Disney on Ice? This is like Peakys on a dancey-stage.’ Cringeworthy, but they had a point. The translation doesn’t quite make it: there is a lot going for this production, but there’s several gaping holes that hinder it from packing the punch that the prospect of the collaboration promises.
An abundance of potential: let the movement do the talking.
Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby performs at the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh until Saturday, March 4 2023, before continuing its tour.