According to an article in the show’s programme by Jacqueline Wilson, Noel Streatfeild’s 1936 book, Ballet Shoes: A Story of Three Children on the Stage, to give it its full title, has never been out of print. Of course, in 1936 Streatfeild could not have envisaged how London would end up after The Blitz of 1940-41, but the outbreak of World War Two not that long after the events of the book, and this stage adaptation of it, are set, made me wonder what would have happened to the central characters, or indeed to the others, especially given that this is effectively a coming-of-age story.
Pauline (Grace Saif), Petrova (Yanexi Enriquez) and Posy (Daisy Sequerra) are all adopted by Matthew Brown (Justin Salinger) – but not at the same time. Matthew, known as Gum – an acronym for Great Uncle Matthew – became guardian to Sylvia (Pearl Mackie) after Sylvia’s parents died. Matthew, however, liked to go on various expeditions as part of his international geology work, which is how he discovered the three sisters. For reasons unexplained, he goes away for so long that the women must fend for themselves somehow. Matthew’s home is run in his absence by Sylvia, who herself becomes guardian to the three girls, hence her nickname ‘Garnie’, and by ‘Nana’ (Jenny Galloway), who seems to be matron, housekeeper and governess rolled into one.
Poverty is relative, quite frankly, at least in this situation: Matthew’s large house is on Cromwell Road, and while the sisters complain that their requests for clothes and other material possessions are sometimes declined, Sylvia has enough spare rooms to take in lodgers. There was no evidence (unless I somehow missed it) that the girls went without meals, and the three lodgers (yes, the novel has more) do not just contribute financially.
Theo Dane (Nadine Higgin), a dance teacher, suggested a method by which the girls can continue their education: a dance academy could take them free of charge, although (as the novel would have it) a portion of their earnings from paid performances while at the academy would be paid in lieu of school fees. This is an engaging and thoughtful show. I initially thought the two hours and forty-five minutes running time might have been a tad too long for the youngest patrons at the National Theatre (and, arguably, a tad too long for older people too) but in the end, the evening whizzed by.
The show strikes a good balance between retaining a degree of faithfulness to the source material without being bogged down by its details. In the novel, for instance, there were procedures to be followed before a child could be engaged in paid work, as there ought to be. The stage show chooses instead to emphasise the paid work itself, portraying a variety of different dance and acting productions involving child actors. Fair enough: who wants to watch Nana and Sylvia fill in forms? On occasion, the stagecraft has a wow factor. I would say more about that but, as ever, there’s a need not to give too much away.
Doctor Jakes (Helena Lymbery), a professor of literature rather than of medicine, has a credible backstory in which her sexual orientation became known to her employer, and, the law being what it was at the time, she lost her job and was forced to move house. Overall, I suppose the running theme that people must work for a living is an admirable one, but I’m not sure being in employment counts as a hardship. Minor niggles aside, this may not be a perfect show, but it excels in being uplifting and inspiring without being overly saccharine.
Review by Chris Omaweng
In a crumbling house full of dinosaur bones and fossils, three adopted sisters – Pauline, Petrova and Posy – are learning who they are and what they want to be.
Under the watchful eyes and guidance of their guardian Sylvia, Nana, and some unlikely lodgers, they fight to pursue their individual passions. But in a world that wasn’t built for women with big ambitions, can they forge a future, keep their family together, and even learn a dance or two along the way?
CAST (in alphabetical order)
Ensemble – Stacey Abalogun
Ensemble – Eryck Brahmania
Young Juliette Manoff / Ballerina / Ensemble – Cordelia Braithwaite
Ensemble – Michelle Cornelius
Winifred / Ensemble – Sonya Cullingford
Petrova Fossil – Yanexi Enriquez
Nana (Miss Guthridge) – Jenny Galloway
Ensemble – Courtney George
The Prince / Ensemble – Georges Hann
Theo Dane – Nadine Higgin
Pianist / Ensemble – Nuwan Hugh Perera
Ensemble – Philip Labey
Doctor Jakes – Helena Lymbery
Ensemble – Sharol Mackenzie
Sylvia (Garnie) – Pearl Mackie
Katerina Federovsky / Ensemble – Xolisweh Ana Richards
Hai Saran – Sid Sagar
Pauline Fossil – Grace Saif
Great Uncle Matthew (GUM) / Madame Fidolia – Justin Salinger
Posy Fossil – Daisy Sequerra
Ensemble – Katie Singh
CREATIVE
Director – Katy Rudd
Set Designer – Frankie Bradshaw
Costume Designer – Samuel Wyer
Choreographer – Ellen Kane
Composer – Asaf Zohar
Dance Arrangements and Orchestration – Gavin Sutherland
Lighting Designer – Paule Constable
Sound Designer – Ian Dickinson for Autograph
Video Designer – Ash J Woodward
Fight Director – Haruka Kuroda
BALLET SHOES
By Noel Streatfeild in a new version by Kendall Feaver
Olivier Theatre, National Theatre, South Bank, London SE1 9PX
26 November 2024 to 22 February 2025
