Edward Scissorhands @ Liverpool Empire Theatre

Preview by Alecia Marshall | 08 Jan 2015

To this day, Edward Scissorhands remains the film closest to Tim Burton’s heart. Conceived during Burton’s teenage years, Scissorhands was a reflective response to the director’s personal feelings of isolation in a town that struggled to accept his eccentricities. It is also the film that marks the beginning of a long and fruitful collaboration/friendship with Johnny Depp, the godfather to both of Burton’s children.

Like most of Burton’s work, the narrative is weird and wonderful in equal measure. A gothic fairytale which depicts a man with scissors where he should have hands, the story is frighteningly beautiful. Dubbed Edward Scissorhands, the man lives alone until a kindly woman invites him to join her family, where Edward proves himself a dab hand – cough – at hairdressing, hedge shearing and ice sculpting. But can a man with scissors for hands survive in 1950s suburbia?

It has been almost a decade since renowned choreographer Matthew Bourne – with Burton’s full consent – transformed the film into three hours of contemporary dance, and January marks the beginning of a fresh UK tour. Famed for his all-male Swan Lake, Bourne has been causing a stir in the world of dance for over twenty years and his take on Burton’s Scissorhands has proved no exception.

Outfitted with new choreography and breathtaking design courtesy of Lez Brotherston (to gaze on his pastel-coloured suburbia is alone worth the ticket price), the production opened in London’s Sadler’s Wells last month to rave reviews. Ballet aficionados will spot references to Mayerling, Coppelia, and Petrushka, and there is, of course, plenty of classic Bourne to sink your teeth into; and yet, at the heart of the dance, Scissorhands remains a tragic love story – and who can’t relate to that?

Runs 27-31 Jan