The Car Man directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne, Sadler's Wells, Roseberry Avenue, Islington, London | until 29 August 2026 and then on tour. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by William Russell

Photo credit: Johan Persson

The Car Man

directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne

Sadler's Wells, Roseberry Avenue, Islington, London | until 29 August 2026 and then on tour

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by William Russell

“Scintillating sizzling sex on legs.”

Created twenty years ago The Car Man is one of Matthew Bourne's adaptations of old movies with added gay elements and was, and still is, an evening of pulsing masculinity as the dancers create the suffocating life in Harmony in small town America. Dino has a diner and a garage in which it seems most of the small town – population 350 – hunks toil while his wife Lana serves in his diner next door. He needs a new hand and along comes Lucca who turns out to fancy anybody who crosses his path. Lana wants rid of Dino. He likes the look of Angelo, the town's resident gay boy who is bullied by the others. To be honest the plot is not all that engrossing but the sets by Lez Brotherston are lavish to say the least and the cast dance splendidly with at the performance I saw – because dancers do change – Will Bozier was a raunchy Lucca oozing dangerous sex appeal. The title is one of those puns because as well as music by Terry Davies the Carmen Suite by Rodion Shchedrin using Bizet's Carmen is also part of what gets danced to. I don't think The Car Man, a huge success when it was first staged 25 years ago, is Bourne's best work – arguably nothing will ever surpass his Swan Lake – but the show has legs, and they are still dancing up a storm. The James M Cain novel The Postman Always Rings Twice has been filmed several times, not always faithful to the book, and is arguably best known in the 1946 version starring Lana Turner and John Garfield, a classic film noir of the time. Turner wore only white, and it was to be one of her great roles while Garfield had everything it took to create a drifter who falls for the wrong woman. But there is no need for Bourne to have copied that movie or any of the other remakes. He has done his own thing, and this production demonstrates that it may have been conceived a quarter of a century ago but it has what it takes to endure. Apart from anything else his company of dancers get to play different roles which keeps them confronting challenges and the show alive in dance terms. Sex on legs in other words and a long hot summer in Harmony.

Cast

Ashley Shaw – Lana

Will Bozier – Lucca

Anna-Maria De Freitas – Rita

Harry Ondrak-Wright – Angelo

Danny Reubens – Fino

Citizens of Harmony

Eleanor McGrath, Karishma Young, Tanisha Addicott, Rae Millar, Serena McCall.

Car Men – Harrison Dowell, Jarrad McWilliams, Cameron Flynn, Xavier Andriambolanoro Sotiya, Nikolas Shikkis, Jamie Duncan-Campbell, Tim Hodges

Creatives

Director and Choreographer – Matthew Bourne

Orchestrator – Terry Davies

Set & Costume Designer – Lez Brotherston

Lighting Designer – Chris Dovey

Sound Designer – Paul Graathuis

Associate Artistic Director – Etta Murfitt

Resident Artistic Associate – Neil Westmoreland