PEAKY BLINDERS: THE REDEMPTION OF THOMAS SHELBY

Sadler’s Wells Theatre

★★★★

“a mesmerising cacophony of movement”

Welcome to the show! No phones. No photos. And NO. F—ING. FIGHTING.

Thomas Shelby has survived the war and is free to do as he pleases. At least until he is pursued by the law, a woman and death itself. How will he fight back?

This dance iteration of Peaky Blinders is written by the series’ creator Steven Knight with direction and choreography by Rambert’s Artistic Director Benoit Swan Pouffer. The story starts in Flanders, where Thomas and his brothers face the devastation of WW1 on the front lines. Pouffer’s direction is cinematic, epic and foreboding. The sound design (Moshik Kop) simultaneously pins your body to your seat and absorbs your mind into the space. A trench cracks open and soldiers drag their bodies into the light. Spotlights direct the spectator’s gaze amongst a swarm of combatting performers. Immediately you understand that the laws of physics do not apply to Rambert’s dancers. They leap and soar as if they have never been incumbered by the burden of gravity. Featuring the soundtrack from the series (musical direction by Yaron Engler), you will certainly require your red right hand to pick your jaw up from the floor. This show is grand, sexy and gives you a craving for whiskey.

The lawless Shelby brothers have returned from the war and are known as the Peaky Blinders. They are bookmakers, money launderers and occasional protectors of their fellow man. Knight’s stage adaptation focuses on the relationship between Thomas, the Peaky Blinders’ leader, and Grace – the woman with a gun who could steal more than his secrets. Narrowing the focus of the story for the purpose of translating it to dance does come with its setbacks. For fans of the series, Thomas’ life is reduced to a romantic tragedy. For those who are encountering the story for the first time, there is an obvious lack of visibility of Thomas’ brothers as the show progresses. In both cases, this unfortunately makes it difficult for the audience to feel the full emotional depth of the events transpiring onstage.

Despite this lapse in storytelling, Knight and Pouffer have done a brilliant job of capturing the mood and aesthetic that we associate with Peaky Blinders. The first act fully immerses us in Birmingham as it is experienced by the Shelby brothers. With Moi Tran’s set designs and Richard Gellar’s costumes, the world of the TV series is reimagined for the stage. Dancers become units in a production line of a factory. Carousel horses are paraded around the ring before they are mounted and raced by jockeys. Burlesque dancers take us to a nightclub. Tran’s design of the raised stage allows Pouffer to be expansive with his direction and the dancers to move on multiple plains. The result is a mesmerising cacophony of movement, made up of duets and solos that sporadically come together to create a snapshot of the ensemble.

The first act has the tenacity of a pub brawl. The second act is the tremble of aftershock. There is a significant shift in pacing. Thomas Shelby (Conor Kerrigan) is the centrepiece of the longer dance sequences, and he is at magnificent full force. There is a satisfying similitude between Thomas’ mental state and the restlessness of his movement, but his character journey feels stagnant throughout the second act. This being said, the choreography in the second act will leave you breathless, so we’ll let it slide.

Rambert Dance in Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby is a beautiful and ambitious production. The show truly captures the feeling of the TV series and will transport you to the reimagined world of Peaky Blinders. Death might be coming for Thomas Shelby, but no one can come for Rambert’s dancers – they are masters of their craft.

PEAKY BLINDERS: THE REDEMPTION OF THOMAS SHELBY

Sadler’s Wells Theatre

Reviewed on 6th August 2025

by Lara van Huyssteen

Photography by Beatrice Livet

Last ten shows reviewed at Sadler’s Wells venues:

SINBAD THE SAILOR | ★★★★★ | July 2025

R.O.S.E. | ★★★★★ | July 2025

QUADROPHENIA, A MOD BALLET | ★★★★★ | June 2025

INSIDE GIOVANNI’S ROOM | ★★★★★ | June 2025

ALICE | ★★★★ | May 2025

BAT OUT OF HELL THE MUSICAL | ★★★★ | May 2025

SPECKY CLARK | ★★★ | May 2025

SNOW WHITE: THE SACRIFICE | ★★★★★ | April 2025

SKATEPARK | ★★★★ | April 2025

MIDNIGHT DANCER | ★★★★ | March 2025

PEAKY BLINDERS

★★★★

“Moments of lightness or humour are rare, but welcome, during the work, which is a hard watch for a compassionate audience”

Co-adapted for stage by Kevin Fegan and Caroline Clegg from the autobiography Slave (Virago) by Mende Nazer and Damien Lewis, this is a raw and emotional retelling of Nazar’s slavery in Sudan and England and how these experiences have formed her life and its mission. ‘Slave: A Question of Freedom’ does not shrink from reality, it is a powerful personal story and a clarion call on behalf of all victims of slavery and trafficking today.

Mende Condo (played with real emotion by Yolanda Ovide) grows up in the mountains of Nuba in the north of Sudan. Family village life is happy, yet even at this early stage of her life, a sense of normality disappears when it is clear she has suffered Female Genital Mutilation (referred to in the play as circumcision).

Tragedy unfolds, as Mende and her friend Kheko (a truthful performance by Ebony Feare) are captured in a violent raid by Mujahideen fighters. Mende suffers terribly before being sold into slavery in Khartoum. On the outside, the family are respectable citizens, but behind closed doors, Mende is constantly belittled, victimised and threatened, not allowed to go outside or speak to others. She struggles to accept her everyday existence. Her one true guide is her village elder and spirit guide, (Mohand Abdalrahem) who continues to appear to her.

After being sold to a high ranking family in London, she eventually finds freedom and a way to tell her story, with the help of several brave men and women. Thankfully, we realise that the Modern Slavery Act 2015, which was the result of campaigning which included the first production of this play, has since been enacted to improve legal protections.

Moments of lightness or humour are rare, but welcome, during the work, which is a hard watch for a compassionate audience. Violence, rape and abuse are depicted not graphically, but without flinching or cutting these short. Director Caroline Clegg is clearly deeply driven by the need to tell Mende’s story. Some scenes involving severe trauma feel that they are there to be truthful to the awful reality rather than adding a new element to the impact.

Mende’s mistreatment by the slave-owner wives in Khartoum and London, (Sara Faraj) is striking, any potential female solidarity is overpowered by cultural discrimination against the ‘black people’ of Nuba by the paler skinned Arabic speaking Sudanese. This is not a religious difference – it is racial and cultural and we are reminded that these prejudices are ancient and hard to eradicate. As the play progresses, we understand that this is not a story of the past, it is ongoing, with millions of people affected by the gaslighting and threats which enslavers constantly make to people with language barriers, little knowledge and no friends.

A simple, angled raised circular set (Lara Booth, based on Nigel Hook’s 2010 design) combined with lighting and projections (Tracey Gibbs) to add clarity to the scene changes and provide a suitable setting for the story, despite some minor technical difficulties on this first night.

Nuba inspired rhythms and acapella songs, (Carol Donaldson as composer and Dan Willis as Musical Director) combine with whole-ensemble joyful dance, to provide a sense of place and community as well as a returning theme for Mende, the girl who had been taken so young.

This is a detailed, honest and harrowing retelling of Mende Nazar’s life story. Told mostly in a linear narrative, rather than by exploring themes, at times it feels a little long. However, the incredible bravery of Mende’s voice to tell her personal story is without a doubt the core of the work and the cast work as one to achieve this objective. The audience was moved and inspired by her appearance on stage at the culmination of this performance, to thank those who continue to help campaign for those without a voice.

Tag Archives: The Lowry

PEAKY BLINDERS: THE REDEMPTION OF THOMAS SHELBY

★★★★

Sadler’s Wells Theatre

PEAKY BLINDERS: THE REDEMPTION OF THOMAS SHELBY

Sadler’s Wells Theatre

★★★★

“a mesmerising cacophony of movement”