Quadrophenia - A Mod Ballet

Sadler's Wells

The emotion-filled 1970's film transformed into a ballet! The choreography and production elements explore the Mod lifestyle and touches on men's mental health.

The one big question that comes to mind with this ballet is 'How do they turn this film into a dance?' and the answer is rather well!

Dance theatre can open the character's minds and help the audience delve deeper into the emotions expressed through movement. Which was in this production, is more open to interpretation. This adaptation of the classic 70s films, choreographed by Paul Roberts and written by THE Pete Townshend. dives deeper into the mind of the leading character 'Jimmy', his fractured home life, vulnerability and journey to find a place where he belongs. The music, colours and wild set presents the essence of the 70s and the clash between the Mods and the rockers. So, brush the dust from your parka and get yourself to Sadlers Wells... perhaps just a Fred Perry actually, the weather isn't quite parka friendly.

Jimmy's role is performed by Paris Fitzpatrick and whilst the role is a hefty challenge, Fitzpatrick displays an intricate understanding of the character, his background and the arc/development. He gravitates and changes his dance style around his love interest character 'Mod Girl', performed by Taela Yeomans-Brown, he follows her around like a lost puppy, becomes more self-aware and movements become more frantic to show how he is trying to find the right way to act and what to say to impress her. The Mod leader 'Ace Face' is danced by Dan Baines, Fitzpatrick tries to imitate this character to show how Jimmy idolises the Mod leader. Baines also creates a barrier between Jimmy and his love interest, to show how Jimmy has no chance whilst he's around! The whole of the dancers help show the influence of drugs, love for the music and the community that the style created.

One of the most interesting characters is played by Amaris Gillies, she plays 'Drugs' so she enters the stage, with her explosive and energetic dance style and the characters gravitate towards her. She connects with the characters, imitates handing something, feeding them or the dancers would touch her costume. After connecting with her the dancers change their dance style into something looser and wilder. The dancers as a unit are brilliant and clearly show the idea of community and following the style!

Costume helps highlight the main characters in the piece and is designed by Paul Smith. As previously mentioned, the costume of the 'Drugs' character is a short glittery short dress, which almost looks like tinsel. The designs also show the differing fashion between the Mods with their parkas, polos, baggy trousers and a line dresses and the rockers with their ripped jeans and leather jackets. This clear difference made the audience aware of the divide between the two groups. In Act Two the two groups have a fight scene, and it was easy to follow the drama as you don't lose sight of who is a part of what group.

Brighton beach and the vibrant streets of soho is brought to the stage. Set is designed by Christopher Oram and it is a colourful display of Jimmy's journey. One of the most iconic pieces of set design is the Brighton beach setting, it shows how this is Jimmy's place to contemplate his life and decide his next steps. The lighting design by Fabiana Piccioli is imperative to emphasise the moving beach waves on set. There is a big platform on the stage, which looks like a huge rock in the middle of the sea and Jimmy stands on this rock, whilst the lighting projects waves crashing against the rock. This is such a poignant and important scene that presents Jimmy's mental state and his want to escape his life. It touches on men's mental health and how much pressure is put on them.

This is a grand piece of dance theatre, a story that brings back memories to the audience and keeps 'Quadrophenia' growing and developing in so many ways. This is an emotive dance work, artistic and an interesting use of dance theatre to tell a well-known story. Whilst the piece is a great and colourful watch, it doesn't hold enough emotion and some numbers are prolonged. You want to see more of Jimmy getting into the Mod style and closer with his community. The dancers are divine, and the mix of styles is interesting, it isn't your usual ballet and the whole cast work well as a unit! If you love the cult classic film and want to see it on stage then this is the show for you! Especially if you haven't been to see dance theatre before, try something new.