Matthew Bourne's The Car Man (2015) [Blu-ray]

The Car Man is one of modern dance's most thrilling and entertaining shows, and a signature production for Matthew Bourne s company New Adventures. First seen in 2000, when it won the Evening Standard Award for Musical Event of the Year , it has proved to be a smash-hit in the UK and around the world. This recording for Sky Arts was made at Sadler s Wells during the production s most recent revival. The Car Man is loosely based on Bizet s popular opera Carmen and has one of the most instantly recognisable scores in New Adventures repertory, brilliantly arranged by Terry Davies. The familiar 19th-century Spanish cigarette factory of the opera becomes a greasy garage-diner in the American mid-west of the 1960s. The arrival of a handsome stranger disturbs the dreams and passions of those who live and work there. Fuelled by heat and desire, the townsfolk are driven into an unstoppable spiral of greed, lust, betrayal and revenge.

The original production won the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Outstanding Musical Event and was a followed by a worldwide tour. Similarly, the 2015 production received glowing reviews and was screened worldwide in cinemas throughout 2016.

Lez Brotherston s epic design and Chris Davey s evocative lighting perfectly complement Matthew Bourne s vivid choreographic storytelling, which draws on a wealth of cinematic references. Together with the glorious dancing of a wonderful cast, they create a delightful, dangerous and ultimately uncompromising vision of small-town America. The Blu-ray also includes the new film The Making of The Car Man which features interviews with key cast and crew including leading dancers Zizi Strallen and Christopher Trenfield, Dominc North and Kate Lyons, with Terry Davies and New Adventures founder, Matthew Bourne.