The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas: Dancer speaks ahead of world exclusive at Wolverhampton Grand - with picture gallery
It begin its life as an historical novel. The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, by Irish novelist John Boyne, sold five million copies around the world and reached number one on the New York Times bestseller list.
It spawned a remarkable film, produced by the BBC, starring Vera Farmiga, David Thewlis, Asa Butterfield, and Jack Scanlon. The Holocaust drama explored the horror of a World War II Nazi extermination camp through the eyes of two 8-year-old boys; Bruno (Butterfield), the son of the camp's Nazi commandant, and Shmuel (Scanlon), a Jewish inmate.
And now it’s being re-imagined as a ballet, which will feature at Wolverhampton’s Grand Theatre on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Northern Ballet, the UK’s foremost narrative ballet company, will present the heartbreaking story, after opening in Doncaster.
Dancer Matthew Koon said: “It’s been a really intense production process because we have three new ballets, including Casanova and Little Mermaid. But we’re used to that and we always pull it off.
“It’s the first time it’s being shown as a ballet. We weren’t sure how it would work out. But many aspects lend itself really well to the ballet. The set and costume are beautiful. The subject matter is so dark but the main germ of the story is the two little boys and their innocence and friendship despite the horrors of the war. It’ll be a sad ballet to watch but people will come away feeling hopeful and uplifted.”
Koon plays Bruno, from whose perspective the story is told.
“I’d seen the film when it first came out in 2008. As soon as we found out we were doing it I watched the film and read the book, to research the characters.”
His West Midlands friends, from Birmingham Royal Ballet, will come along. “Ballet is a small world and we’re very supportive of each other.”
