Theatre South East

Lord of the Dance – Dangerous Games

Review

There is been an amazing amount of interest on the Theatre South East website when we posted that The Lord of the Dance – Dangerous Games was coming back to the Dominion as well as going on tour.

Before he retires from dancing Michael Flatley is due to appear for a short while at some of the performances. I was lucky enough to go to one of these performances at the Brighton Centre last night.

If you have read my other posts you will know that I know nothing about dance but the stereotypical image I had in my head was a line of dancers, possibly in Emerald Green, tapping away like the clappers for a couple of hours.

Dangerous Games was nothing like that.

Directed and choreographed by the original Lord himself, Michael Flatley, with new music by composer Gerard Fahy, Dangerous Games is Irish dancing like you’ve never seen it before.

There is a thin thread of a storyline which I tried to follow for a while, but to be honest all you need to know is it is a dance-off between good and evil.

Helped by large scale dazzling projections we see the Emerald Isle portrayed as a mythical land, full of vibrant Unicorns, Rainbows and Butterflies. The girls look like Barbie and there is a Little Spirit who plays the primary school hymn ‘Lord of the Dance’ at regular intervals on her panpipes.

But…Ireland’s peace is shattered when the ‘Dark Lord’ threatens to take over with his troupe of transformers (dancers in disguise). It is up to the Little Spirit and our hero the ‘Lord of the Dance’ to save the day.

Ultimately of course, the good guys overcome the bad and everyone has a jolly good dance.

If you think that sounds weird, you would be absolutely right. However amidst all the garish costumes and showy projections, dancing is still very much at the heart of Dangerous Games.

The dancers are incredible. In perfect sync they dance with skill, speed and elegance. The lead soloists were breathtaking. The show also features a soloist (Erin the Goddess) and a couple of violinists who play (I think) and dance around the stage encouraging the audience to clap along. I wasn’t quite sure where they fitted into the plot but I enjoyed them all the same.

Apart from a big whoop from the audience when the cast took their tops off (Yep – girls down to their sexy black underwear, and later the boys get the chance to show off their muscles), it wasn’t surprising that the biggest rounds of applause was for when they ditched the special effects and danced in the more traditional way. This was when Dangerous Games was at it’s most spectacular.

Now that Michael Flatley is retiring from performing we now have 3 new ‘Lords of the Dance’. Matthew Smith, James Keegan and Morgan Comer [interview here] , but Flatley will appear at certain select performances during this run, the final one in the UK being on the 4^th July at Wembley Arena.

Never fear though Flatley fans! Michael himself does make an appearance in Dangerous Games via a nifty hologram at the beginning and end of the show.

I am glad that I did go to see one of his final live performances at The Brighton Centre last night however his gauntlet is well and truly passed. The cast and in particular the new Lord should be proud of themselves. Dangerous Games may be a little bonkers but it is a lot of fun.

Booking Information and other UK tour dates – click here

Buy Tickets for London Show Here