A TIMELESS fairytale that has captivated audiences and inspired generations of dancers will be heading to Plymouth’s Theatre Royal this autumn.

Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures double Olivier award-winning, smash hit production of The Red Shoes is embarking on 2025/26 tour for the first time since its 2020 tour was cut short due to the pandemic.

The production will open at the TRP from November 17 to 22 before taking up a seven-week annual Christmas season at Sadler’s Wells, marking New Adventures’ 23rd consecutive Christmas season at the venue.

A sell-out before its world premiere season opened in 2016, Matthew Bourne’s triumphant adaptation of the legendary film went on to win Best Entertainment at the 2017 Olivier Awards, with Matthew Bourne winning the award for Best Theatre Choreographer. The show then returned for a national tour in 2019.

Bourne’s magical double Olivier Award-winning production of the legendary Powell and Pressburger film is set to a score orchestrated by Terry Davies, featuring the mesmerizing music of golden-age Hollywood composer Bernard Herrmann, with sumptuous designs by Lez Brotherston (set and costumes), Paule Constable (lighting) and Paul Groothuis (sound).

Based on the Micheal Powell and Emeric Pressburger film and the Hans Anderson fairytale, The Red Shoes is an intoxicating drama where life imitates art with fateful consequences.

It’s a powerful tale of obsession, possession that will will dazzle your senses and break your heart as the story follows one girl’s dream to be the greatest dancer in the world - despite being in a fierce struggle between the two men who inspire her passion.

Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures is an iconic, ground-breaking British dance-theatre company, famous for telling stories with a unique theatrical twist. Since 1987 it has changed the popularity of dance in Britain, creating works that have altered the public perception of what is possible when it comes to telling stories without words.  

New Adventures is a charity, and its principal funder is Arts Council England.

As well as producing award-winning work which dazzles audiences across the globe, we are passionate about the development of emerging talent and increasing diversity and representation in dance. During 2023-24, they delivered 137 talent development sessions to 2,453 attendees.

New Adventures offers an extensive range of pathways into the company and wider industry for promising young dancers, including Cygnet School, our pre-vocational programme, Swan School, a residency for invited dancers, pro-classes, and workshops.

Working with around 30 partner venues across the UK each year, New Adventures also presents its work in more large and mid-scale venues than any other dance company in Britain. In their 2023-24 season, 334,500 people attended 277 performances as an audience member, 25,000 saw a New Adventures production in the cinema and there were over 1.4 million engagements with our online content.

Tickets for the show will be on sale soon. For access to priority booking, see TRP’s membership options at https://theatreroyal.com/join/memberships