The Midnight Bell (2025) - Review

Review by Elle

Tickets were gifted in return for an honest review 

The Midnight Bell is a piece that transports its audience into the darker side of Soho, London in the 1930s. We see snippets into characters' lives and how they intertwine and connect at The Midnight Bell pub. With characters taken from Patrick Hamilton's novels we get to see the not so polished side of 1930s London that is so often what we see within creative pieces.

Photo by Johan Persson

In this production Bourne focuses on themes such as connection, affection, love and heartbreak. We see the characters go through the complexity of navigating relationships with the purest of intentions but with all the same emotional obstacles we still experience today. Bourne uses inserts of music and mime to give characters an opportunity to speak through the song, using this alongside the score by Terry Davies and the set and costumes designed by Lez Brotherstone, it’s easy to see how the cast can really step into the roles and be so authentic as each character.

With a New Adventures all star cast it's incredibly easy to be blown away by not just the dancing but the storytelling within the movement and facial expressions. Every move is specifically timed yet feels so natural, which can only be achieved with a cast who have not only passion for what they are doing, but connection with each other. A particularly beautiful connection was between Frank and Albert, played by Andy Monaghan and Liam Mower. Telling the story of two men in love but in secret, fighting with feelings and the fear of being outed, we got multiple duets between the two which felt extremely intimate, so intimate that it felt like being lost in the movement and their story.

A very interesting storyline was between Jenny Maple and Bob, played by Ashley Shaw and Dominic North. From North's optimism and romantic style to Shaw's character rebuffing him through a clear complexity of the character we see a very relatable relationship in that of one person being more into the other, yet their entire interaction still seems so innocent.

Photo by Johan Persson

Special mention goes to Glenn Graham who played a con man called Ernest Ralph Gorse.This is a character that whilst being a major villain as we see during his interactions with Miss Roach played by Michela Meazza, he also provides some extremely comedic moments which at times especially further into the story are enhanced by Meazza’s characters actions.

Overall this is a production for those of us who yearn for more from our relationships and that is made clear through the music with the choreography and the directorial choices by Bourne. A stunning piece of devised dance that feels real and gives us a glance into another time and other lives. Definitely worth raising your glass at The Midnight Bell!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Midnight Bell runs at Nottingham’s Theatre Royal until Saturday 6th September 2024. Tickets are available from https://trch.co.uk/

The production to tours until 4th October 2025. For dates and venues visit https://www.new-adventures.net/the-midnight-bell#overview

Photo by Johan Persson