Sleeping Beauty

Gritty and sexy, and filled with the passions and power of a beautiful Northern love story.

I confess to being a tad snooty when it comes to all this memory and movement malarkey, but I was surprised just how much difference it made not having a music stand between me and the players. Free from having to keep sheet music within their eyeline, the artists could express the music more, well, expressively

The skill of Thomas and Ward is quite remarkable; their ability to effortlessly shimmy up a Colgate lamppost and perform aerial acrobatics was jaw-dropping

Both sensitive and challenging in its treatment of the question of what is natural and unnatural.

A visceral reimagining of Mia Fisher’s novel of a young boy seduced through poverty and circumstance into the murky world of drug dealing.

Danny’s journey is interwoven with stories, facts and demonstrations involving the significant accordions throughout his life, and the result is warm, funny, comforting, worrying and, at more than one point, deeply unsettling.

Throughout the near two-hour performance I’m rapt. I leave the Theatre Royal grateful to have witnessed such an assured, skilled and thoughtful act.

The overall ethos of the band seems to be: any difficultly, no matter how horrendous and unjust, should be met with as much positivity and energy as it is possible to muster.

The endurance of much traditional music is linked to its ability to tap into deeper social and psychological currents. The Mary Wallopers may well be the most skilful and committed exponents of this approach currently active.

All in all, another great evening at the Arts Centre.

This was a mesmerising performance by a completely singular artist