THE LAST TANGO - Theatre Review

Performance Reviewed: Tuesday 22nd September (Press Night)

It pretty much goes without saying, particularly off the back of their previous outings Midnight Tango and last year’s sensational Dance ’Til Dawn, that you can confidently go into a Vincent and Flavia vehicle expecting to be dazzled. Both technically and artistically the duo are nigh-faultless; their years of performing together having synergised a dance duo comfortably up there with the Rogers and Astaires or Kelly and Hayworths. There is not a beat missed, a kick or step out of place or a flourish left unflurried as they meticulously and majestically dance us through love, life and loss in this, their final touring production together.

Where Midnight Tango centred around the comedic and romantic shenanigans of a single locale (a Buenos Aires downtown bar) and Dance ’Til Dawn tapped into a Broadway-esque riff on gangsters, crime and film noir, The Last Tango, fittingly, is a far more stripped back and pared down affair. The focus, understandably, puts Vincent and Flavia front and centre throughout - taking us on a couple’s journey from meeting and courtship through to the key ups and downs of their beautiful, thoroughly human and relatable life together. Where Dance ’Til Dawn may have been more fun, and Midnight Tango funnier, The Last Tango is markedly more intimate and human, the showboating and grandiose set pieces of the formers making way for more delicate vignettes that provide a suitably emotional and layered final farewell for the pair.

That’s not to say the show lacks scope or variety - the passage of time alone allows for an eclectic whip-through of styles in terms of both music and dance, and between the Vincent and Flavia centrepieces the ensemble do a tremendous job of bringing character and energy to the stage as we jump from celebratory post-war Britain to socialite champagne parties and cosy Christmases across the years. Much of this, and the duo’s centrepieces moments, are ably abetted by the silky vocals of Matthew Gent doing a great job of handling a variety of classics such as ‘At Last’, ‘Moondance’ and ‘Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps’, or Rebecca Lisewski’s raising the heat with duly impressive multi-tasking in some of the show’s more energised, up-tempo sequences.

Visually, The Last Tango is once again a notably less ostentatious production than it’s predecessors, but that does not mean it is any less sumptuously crafted. Morgan Large’s intuitive set design cleverly opens itself out across the stage as an attic of memories, treasures and keepsakes spill out and come to life before the audience. James Whiteside’s lighting delicately treads the balance between accentuating the ambience of the show, giving extra pop to the more jovial beats and yet being sure to not overshadow the delicacy of the core duo’s work and the more nuanced nature of the show’s storytelling. Vicky Gill’s costume design, meanwhile, is as exquisite and integral as ever - cascades of blue chiffon billowing out to ‘Beyond the Sea’, for example, whilst Cacace herself is bedecked in gowns fit for royalty, yet ones which always accentuate, and never distract from, the movement. They are another pedigree that beautifully synchronise with the world-class standard of dancing being brought to the stage.

In all, The Last Tango is a far less showy show than one may have first presumed upon learning it would be Cacaca and Simone’s final theatre tour. Where Dance ’Til Dawn saw them raise the stakes and up the ante by delving into a completely different genre of theatre production altogether, putting on a big old Hollywood musical of a show, The Last Tango attempts no such one-upmanship. Instead, such is the charisma, impact and beauty of their stunning collaborations with Director/Co-Choreographer Karen Bruce, the remit was clearly to keep it simple and focus on what the team do at their internationally-acclaimed, multi-championship-claiming, award-winning finest. A tender, moving study of life, a stunning celebration and demonstration of the emotive and narrative power of dance and the most concentrated of their outings thus far. By the time the duo rightfully command their second standing ovation of the night, blisteringly tearing their way through their signature Argentine Tango with incomparable finesse and flair, there will no doubt be many more than just this reviewer wishing Vincent and Flavia’s latest tango was not their last.

RATING - ★★★★

THE LAST TANGO is running at the Birmingham Hippodrome from Tuesday 22nd to Saturday 26th September 2015.

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Press tickets for this performance of The Last Tango were provided courtesy of the Birmingham Hippodrome directly. The author gratefully acknowledges their generous invitation.