Review of Matthew Bourne's The Car Man at Milton Keynes Theatre

Matthew Bourne has been the accessible end of stage ballet and contemporary dance for decades now, and first imagined for the stage back in 2000, his interpretation and loose adaptation of Bizet’s Carmen, as The Car Man, is perhaps his most accessible to the general public. So, as it drives into Milton Keynes Theatre this week, is it still the masterly piece first seen 26 years ago?

Luca is a man on the move; however, as he heads into Harmony, a town of 375 people, he sees a sign reading “Man Wanted” and decides to stop over to try to settle in and take some work at Dino’s Garage. After setting his eyes on the proprietor's wife, Lana, turmoil begins to infect the inhabitants of this harmonious town.

The Car Man is a dazzling spectacle by Matthew Bourne and his New Adventures company, filled, as expected, with stunning dancing from the immensely dedicated and talented team of dancers. Led by Will Bozier as Luca, "The Car Man", his strength and confidence drive through his performance. His performance is one of grit, grime and sexual tension as he sees Lana for the first time.

Cordelia Braithwaite’s Lana is one of a more refined style; her delicate dances have the eyes of all the boys from the garage down at the diner where she works as a waitress alongside her sister Rita. Her solo dances are captivating and beautiful, masking much of the trauma ahead as the town’s world spirals out of control due to one man.

As one of the victims of the issues to come is Angelo, played innocently by Leonardo McCorkindale, picked on by the boys at the garage and taken under the wing by Luca, his life is set to change in devastating ways, and McCorkindale is superb at telling this story through his dance and Bourne’s incredible direction. On his side is very much Rita, played by Maria de Freitas with a loving touch, always supporting her man of choice, but in a shy, light way.

Finally, one of the direct cast members to mention is Alan Vincent, who has been with New Adventures since 1997 and created the role of Luca in 2000. Here, he plays Dino, and while the role requires less dancing than the rest of the cast, he brilliantly creates a fully three-dimensional character without a word. The rest of the company are equally skilled, filling the stage with character moments far beyond where the main story is being told, and this is where Bourne is a master: side moments a plenty, which you may often miss on a first viewing but which create a rich and vivid world.

The music, as expected, is a feast as well, brilliantly put together by Terry Davies from Rodion Shchedrin’s Carmen Suite (after Bizet’s Carmen). The pieces are created for the dance, rather than, as with many of Bourne’s other works, to the dance. It makes a stronger piece of work and brilliant set pieces, nothing better than the truly devastating culmination of the first act, rarely bettered anywhere.

All this is set against a stunning, gritty, and perfect set by Les Brotherston, the best I have seen in Bourne’s works to date. It is fluid and full of character, yet never troublesome for the cast to perform their dance routines on stage.

Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man is an epic, exceptional piece of work. Tremendously easy to follow, accessible to all, and willing to push all the boundaries of a dance show. It is easily the greatest of the five Bourne shows I have seen so far, and, without any shadow of a doubt, truly recommended for all. Stunning!

Gritty and seductive, this is storytelling through dance of the highest calibre.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Performance reviewed: Tuesday 7th July 2026 at the Milton Keynes Theatre, Milton Keynes.

Matthew Bourne's The Car Man runs at Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday, 11th July 2026, before continuing its tour.

For further details about Milton Keynes, see their website at https://www.atgtickets.com/venues/milton-keynes-theatre/

For further details of the tour, see the website at https://www.new-adventures.net/

Photographs: Johan Persson
(Images depict performers other than those mentioned in this review.)

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