When I first read the flattering reviews about The Car Men I didn't know what to think: On one hand, I had no expectations- the story sounded a little bit shallow to me, but on the other hand- It's Matthew Bourne, isn't it? I must be at least interesting to watch.

Nevermind the illegaly high price of the ticket---I thought it would be worth it. The show began, and I didn't understand ANYTHING. I knew what it was about, but I didn't understand for a second what was going on on stage. Basically, it was about a stranger coming to a small town called Harmony. He starts working at the local garage and all the men & women go crazy.
That's the basic story line, but what I saw on stage was a bunch of guys and girls roll on the ground, making out in the street (???), on cars, on tables, beating up each other every 5 minutes and so on.

The main problems of The Car Men, in my opinion, are:

1. There are too many characters. Everyone in Harmony is the main character, and you don't know who's important to the story and who's not. I mean, too many characters make the story blurry and unclear, because you don't know what is the story line you should follow. There are many little stories inside and minor events, because of the number of characters, and you can lose the story-line easily.

2. All the characters are flat and shallow, including the garage-man, because there are too many of them. When there's a small number of characters, each one is complicated, each character has it's own identity, but in The Car Men you don't understand the characters at all and you can't even guess why they do the things they do. You have no idea what drives them, why are they killing each other and who's who. it's like that: "Why did he beat up that guy? He kissed him in the first act!" "I think it's because they're fighting over one of the girls." "which one?" "I don't know, maybe she's the fat guy's wife." "Then why did she sleep with the guy with the Allstars?" "hmmm, that's a good question" etc.

3. The show is built like a puzzle: many irrelative pieces. for example, one of the guys (which one???) was sent to prison. a few minutes later the people of the town to see a cabaret. ok... after some time, of maybe before, two cars crush on stage, just like that, and no one knows about it after it happens... and every two minutes there's a small Pas de Deux, nobody knows why, and everything is so confusing! the puzzle pattern of the show doesn't help you follow the story and also the bizarre characters, who fight with no reason and have sex in the street!

4. The lack of idea. I mean, the main idea of The Car Men is interesting, but it wasn't developed enough: apperantly Matthew Bourne wanted to develope the design more than the idea of this show, that's why in other shows you might think: "Oh poor guy.... I understand him... look at his mother, for god sake! Isn't Emily Piercy amusing? Poor prince, that #^&%$&$!&^ bold man decieved him... oh...." (or not... well, that's what me & my friends thought, for example, when we saw Swan Lake)but in The Car Men you think: "What? wasn't he dead a few seconds ago?" etc. What I want to say is, in the other works of Bourne there's a moral, or something to think about. in The Car Men your brain is stuck somewhere in the beginning, as someone's wife (?) makes out with the Garage-man, where you lose the story.

I can't say how depressed and upset I was after watching The Car Men. I knew the plot was shallow before I watched it, but I thought: well, you can never know for sure before you see it. I mean, the Swan Lake story sounded strange too, but it had a story... IT WAS UNDERSTANDABLE. But I deeply regret I've ever seen it, frankly.

Anyway, that's only what I think. Just wanted to share my feeling with you guys.

Best regards,
Netallica

You mention your young niece - I, on the other hand, took my 80-year old mother to The Car Man and she not only understood the plot but thoroughly enjoyed the experience!

1. I know the main characters are the ones in the spotlights, but dude, almost everyone on stage enjoyed a solo & a spotlight

2. Dear dude, you don't know me and my imagination... maybe I'm not as sharp as the other people in the forum but imagination is something completely different, you know, and while watching The Car Men- I tried to figure out what happens on stage and made up thousands of sick theories to explain what I see and non of them helped, but what do I know, you're the choreographer.

3. One thing can be said about The Car Men- it's not boring. I didn't say it was boring because it was, no matter what, beautiful to watch. Then why should I try the classics...? I don't want to die aged 14 of fatal BOREDOM...
(sorry for the classics-lovers, but I tried them and... well, Matthew, you're still numero Uno, even with The Car Men)

4. In Israel, the first rule of ballet is:
- Who cares about the plot as long as the critics define it "Erotic"?
I'm ashamed to admit that, but still- I know my people... (talked with some of them after the show, of course. btw, they didn't understand it more than I did).

5. Basically, I don't care if I'm the only idiot in the world, who didn't understand The Car Men. But let me put it that way:
I've seen Swan Lake a year ago, I hated classical Ballet then, and it had changed me entirely- I became a different person, better one- I believe (which means I used to be worse than today!! wow...!), and above all- it had given me the inspiration I needed. No kidding, It was like being smacked in the face, and the consequences were good. And then I went to see The Car Men, and my inspiration died, my brain got dried, I don't feel like creating something anymore, I'm depressed and down and bitter and I TRIED so hard to enjoy it... and even though The Car Men definitely has a lot of pluses, they didn't effect me unfortunately, and now I'm stuck with the negative thoughts.

Maybe it's just me, no, wait, PROBABLY it's just me, but drying my source of inspiration WAS cruel! and, of course, the money, but that's another story and is boring so I'll leave that.

*** not understanding the story is one problem, and I can live with that. But, I swear, I haven't seen such a shallow creation in a long time! that's nice, focusing on one complaint to show my stupidity, but what about the idea of this ballet? The spirit? the hidden massage? THE THOUGHTS...? I'd like to know that...!

Netallica

The Car Men is finally making its way to Los Angeles, and I do like to read reviews prior to going, not to sway me from not going, but to see if 'real people' (not those paid to influence)have any thoughts.....

Matthew, just for the record, I'd never been to the ballet prior to having seen your interpretation of Swan Lake. It was an incredible experience, and it didn't really matter to me if there was a storyline. It was an unforgettable visual, and I've been waiting to see your next presentation, though I missed Cinderella.

I'm looking forward to The Car Men, and I am sure it is every bit as 'original' as Swan Lake was. Keep up the good work.

Have you considered a new take on the Nutcracker?

mwf

Renee Renouf will be reviewing the show for us but I do hope you, and other readers, are able to drop back and give us your thoughts on the show as well - we'd love to add to our list of reviews and fresh thoughts are always nice to see.

Just to let you know that Matthew has already done his own version of Nutcracker, and hopefully it will be revived in the not too distant future.

Lara is an accomplished photgrapher who has her own website
http://www.digitalstoryteller.com/BTV00/hartley/index.shtml. Another recent example of her work is a photjournal of a visit to Mexico last year with a group of doctors performing plastic surgery on children with cleft palates and lips.
http://www.operationrainbow.org/missions/2000/mexico/index.htm

Lewis Segal of the Los Angeles Times has written about Car Men in the paper's most recent online edition. "Whether he's evoking the heat, insects and lust of a night when nothing is happening or the surreal frenzy of social dances that barely contain the characters' primal urges, this is daring, accomplished, uncompromisingly lurid movement theater. Moreover, his addiction to trailer trash seems to be shared by designer Lez Brotherston, who elevates ugly clutter into an all-American aesthetic with his rising/falling/rotating scenic panels that manage to provide a billboard illusion of freedom but keep everyone caged in".
http://www.calendarlive.com/top/1,1419,L-LATimes-Theater-X!ArticleDetail-43175,00.html

One wonders if this will be the last hurrah for Bourne's former production company, Adventures in Motion Pictures. The present tour of the United States is Bourne's final venture in conjunction with Katherine Dore, who manages AMP. But all Bourne's future productions will be under the aegis of a different company, New Adventures. For more details see our previous posting http://www.danze.co.uk/dcforum/news/977.html

Me too! And once you can connect the stage work with the people behind it, it becomes even more fascinating.

thanks Pete for all the kudos!

lara

And we are waiting with bated breath for Ed's interview with Will Kemp.

I loved this show and meeting Matthew Bourne was like meeting a hero. I know that sounds a bit grand, but it was really like that. I think the man is a genius!!!

Will is not to be missed if one has the opportunity to see him dance. I hope to get back and see him perform the part of Luca the Hunk before the show leaves LA. Photographing Will and the company during rehearsal was an honour. And even in the rehearsal studio his acting moved me to tears.

One reveiwer called him the dancer/actor of his generation. I think this was not pure hyperbole but an accurate evaluation of a great talent.

Bourne seems to have a real knack of picking performers with extraordinary acting skills combined with powerful dance, the most obivous being Adam Cooper and now Will has matured into that kind of charmismatic performer too.