The Odyssey, Mark Bruce Company: Wilton’s Music Hall review ★★★★★

Here is one new dance show London really can’t afford to miss. The Mark Bruce Company Dracula production last year won a clutch of awards, including the Southbank Sky Arts Award for Best Production. 2016’s The Odyssey reunites the creative team behind that success both on stage and off.

Based on Homer's Odyssey, the story follows the Greek Odysseus, played by dancer Christopher Tandy, after ten years of the Trojan War. Before he can return to his home and his Queen (danced by Hannah Kidd) he is dragged by a capricious god through another decade of monsters, temptresses and mythical obstacles.

Jonathan Goddard, whose performance as Dracula won him his second ‘Best Male Dancer’ Critic’s Circle award, was to play the reckless deity to whose tune Odysseus must dance. But an ill-timed broken foot lead to replacement by the capable Chris Akrill.

Director and choreographer Mark Bruce has created works for Rambert, Ballet Black and multiple European companies, developing an acclaimed repertoire of non-patronising dance theatre.

Guy Hoare, the lighting designer behind many a Royal Opera House spectacle, and set designer Phil Eddolls are responsible for the ambitious visuals. Praise rained on Eddolls’ Dracula set, so inventively multi-purpose that every scene change occurred on stage, with everything from carriages to castles morphing into something new. Costumes are by Dorothee Brodrück

The production refers to but is not tied by its ancient roots, occasionally swapping Hades and brutal seas for a faded New York pageant and other modernisations. Music reflects the same variety, hopping from Mozart to bluesy jazz via some of Bruce’s own compositions.

Wilton’s is London’s only surviving Victorian music hall and an eccentric as well as atmospheric venue. Recently refurbished to former glory, its vintage gloom and dark nooks will be perfect for this era-wandering piece - we recommend you book right away.