QUADROPHENIA, A MOD BALLET

Festival Theatre

★★★★

“This Quadrophenia is a feast for the eyes”

Pete Townshend’s Quadrophenia, A Mod Ballet, part of Sadler’s Wells On Tour, has reached Edinburgh. For fans of Pete Townshend and The Who; the album Quadrophenia (1973), and the film Quadrophenia (1979), this is welcome news. But make no mistake, Quadrophenia, A Mod Ballet, while sharing much of the same material with its predecessors, is also quite different. Paradoxically, this most recent reimagining cannot really be appreciated unless you know the earlier works. How you feel about The Who’s hard hitting sound—and especially their lyrics—being omitted from this version is up to you. But should you need compensation, you will find it in the wonderful dancing, extraordinary design, and lovely orchestration. Last night’s audience at the Festival Theatre lapped it up with enthusiasm.

Quadrophenia has always been a piece about summing up the voices of the Mod generation. The 1960s marked the beginning of something new in post war Britain—a young demographic who had their own music, their own fashions, and crucially, money in their pockets to spend on these things. The Mods, and their arch rivals, the Rockers, took all these things to the dance floors, and then to the streets. Quadrophenia celebrates all this, but also emphasizes the confusion and dissociation that some felt in a shifting culture that defined itself by opposition. Opposition to their parents and their values, to the blue collar factory jobs, and the drabness that was Britain then, still struggling to emerge from the trauma of World War Two. The show captures the style and the energy of the Mods and Rockers in its dance, costumes, and elaborate stage projections. But in this version of the story, the edginess is muted, and good looks take precedence over protest. And another important theme, always bubbling below the surface of The Who’s music and lyrics, and the film of Quadrophenia, that of the fractured, schizophrenic self, is difficult to recognize in A Mod Ballet unless you know the earlier history.

Quadrophenia, A Mod Ballet has assembled a fantastically talented group for this production. The team have extensive experience of the performing arts in ballet, musicals, and it shows. From director Rob Ashford, choreographer Paul Roberts and musical director and orchestrator Rachel Fuller to set designer Christopher Oram, video designer Yeastculture.org, and the costume design team of Paul Smith, Natalie Pryce and Hannah Teare, this is a seamless production that feels like a Broadway musical. It doesn’t hurt that many of the artists working on this show have also had extensive experience with working on rock concerts, and world class orchestras. There’s a distinct air of glamour surrounding the dancers on stage even as the muscular choreography breaks out a few moves not usually seen in ballet. The dancers themselves inhabit the constantly changing space with a mix of dance, and acting, even if they don’t speak. When they aren’t dancing, they’re sitting in diners, drinking coffee, or even, in a brilliantly choreographed scene, being part of a crowded train carriage during the rush hour. Every detail of the period is captured; it’s lit to great advantage by lighting designer Fabiana Piccioli. This Quadrophenia is a feast for the eyes.

A Mod Ballet marks a new direction in the ongoing story of Quadrophenia. Whether it will succeed with audiences in the same way that The Who’s rock opera Tommy succeeded, for example, remains to be seen. But this show is sure to please dance enthusiasts everywhere, even if the narrative struggles to maintain equal clarity with the music and choreography.