The Midnight Bell at Sadler’s Wells

Returning to Sadler’s Wells for the summer, Matthew Bourne’s bittersweet, sharply stylised take on Patrick Hamilton’s 1929 novel draws audiences into the bleary, boozy underworld of 1930s Soho – a district of foggy streets and flickering neon, where lonely hearts drink to forget and yearn for something more.

Though rooted in a bygone era, The Midnight Bell feels startlingly contemporary, with Terry Davies’s dreamlike score moving across genres and time, never once settling into nostalgic homage. But it’s Bourne’s choreography that truly brings the story into the present, through a theatrical physical language that transforms abstract emotions into tangible movement, combined with the strength and sensibility of modern ballet.

Tension simmers beneath the surface – not through grand confrontations, but in the twitch of a shoulder or a breath caught mid-lurch. It surges through anxious duets and off-kilter solos, through every furtive glance and slap of rejection. The hopelessly besotted George Harvey Bone (Alan Vincent) flails like a man already half-drowned, while Jenny Maple (Ashley Shaw), a young prostitute, draws a quiet, clear arc of resilience. West End chorus boy Albert (Liam Mower) and Frank (Andrew Monaghan) circle each other with hesitant longing – until a shy kiss lands with the weight of a bruise.

Lez Brotherston’s design conjures the raw textures of Hamilton’s London: dim bedsits, smoke-fogged backstreets and peeling pub walls heavy with heartache. These spaces are pierced by flashes of garish neon – evoking everything from Last Night in Soho (2021) to Blade Runner (1982) – situating the story in a world that feels both historical and uncannily timeless. Locations shift with cinematic ease: a pub, a dancehall, a seedy hotel lobby flicker into view, supporting the movement and the dancers’ floor work rather than overshadowing it. Only one scene falters – a prolonged sequence around a single bed, placed dead centre and front-facing, feels jarringly stiff amidst a show full of smooth, flowing movement.

Still, this is Bourne at his most sensitive and precise. He finds heartbreak not in melodrama but in the pauses between gestures – in the glance that goes unanswered, the touch that never lands. The Midnight Bell’s story may be steeped in vintage gin and pre-war gloom, but its emotional charge is utterly present. Though you arrive at Sadler’s Wells for the show, you’ll leave feeling as if you’ve just stepped out of a Soho backstreet pub.

Christina Yang
Photos: Johan Persson

The Midnight Bell is at Sadler’s Wells from 10^th until 21^st June 2025. For further information or to book, visit the theatre’s website here.

Watch the trailer for The Midnight Bell at Sadler’s Wells here: