Love, desire, people: Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell

Sadler’s Wells, London
June 12, 2025

“Though it had no wide reputation, all manner of people frequented The Midnight Bell. This was in its nature, of course, since it is notorious that all manner of people frequent all manner of public houses…” 
Patrick Hamilton, Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky

Inspired by Patrick Hamilton’s book of the same name and other of the author’s titles, Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell paints a wonderfully evocative picture of 1930s London and the lives of ten characters, all lonely in their own way, all linked by all being employees or patrons of the eponymous pub.

While Bourne shows us the different relationships between the individuals, all involving love or desire in one form or another, there’s no overall plot. The focus is rather on creating a world, painting pictures, of time, place and people, all of which he does superbly. In terms of atmosphere and deeply drawn characters, The Midnight Bell is surely his best work yet. Certainly, one of his most artful.

While Hamilton set his novels in the seedy, boozy streets of Soho, and the programme tells us that is where Bourne sets the work, a street sign on a railing on the set tells us that the action is actually taking place in and around Fitzroy Square in the more upmarket Fitzrovia. The people who populate the work are still very much ordinary folk, however, a real cross-section of society. And all are immaculately observed. They appear very real.

Although the duets around the bench in the square run it close, The Midnight Bell is at its best when set in the titular pub. There’s no sweeping dance, no big ensemble, set-piece choreography. Instead, there is a lot of coming and going, walking to and fro, but here in particular, every situation, every meeting of characters, comes loaded with restrained tension. Everyone has a complicated life or a secret, it seems. The action is very non-stop but there’s still time for lots of little moments, a glance, a brush past, a gesture, the simple act of sitting next to someone, which all speak volumes. The detail is wonderful.

And talking of detail, what a wonderful job Lez Brotherston does in constructing the pub. It is so perfectly period it is frightening. Particularly clever is the way the position of the bar sometimes changes, which alters the space, and makes it feel like we are watching from a different position but in the same room. Elsewhere, buildings fly in and out, reception desks, chairs, tables and bed appear, all easily evoking different places.

Composer Terry Davies’ original score compliments the action well. His use of piano music in the pub scenes feels so right. It’s just a shame it’s not live. The soundtrack is boosted by a smattering of songs by George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Hoagy Carmichael, Irving Berlin and more, almost all with some reference to love in the title. While I’m far from convinced by the need for lip-synching, it is incredibly well done. I also love the way we hear footsteps in the dark, quite sinister in their way, and a distant dog barking, just as you would.

Paule Constable’s lighting is wonderfully atmospheric, especially in the pub and outdoors in the square at night.

The obvious standout couple is Albert and Frank, described as a West End Chorus Boy and a new customer. As they flirt nervously but gain in confidence, their relationship is so heartfelt. Andrew Monaghan and Liam Mower not only make you feel for them; they make you want their partnership to work. Their Act I duet on and around that bench is one of the show’s highlights but is over all too quickly.

My favourite was the tortured romantic, George Harvey Bone, played by the terrific Alan Vincent, however. He has a dysfunctional relationship with Daisy May Kemp’s Netta Longdon, a glamorous out-of-work actress who, one suspects, is living on past glories. You just know things are never going to work out but his growing obsession comes with such grace. Vincent conveyed Bone’s struggles with social relationships beautifully, although I would not have guessed that was down to his schizophrenia without the programme note.

But there are superb performances across the board. Glenn Graham is perfect as the slippery up-to-no-good cad, Ernest Ralph Gorse, who comes complete with rakish moustache and sharp suit. He’s clearly only romancing the one suspects rich spinster Miss Roach for what he can get out of her. Michela Meazza’s gave a perfect portrayal of the lonely lady, someone loaded with unfulfilled desire and despair. As an example of little things drawing the eye, who could imagine her powdering her nose at a table in a dimly lit corner could be so interesting?

There are fabulous performances too from Dominic North as Bob, the almost too decent barman but who is full of longing. Ashley Shaw as Jenny, a young prostitute, manages to show the emotional bruises of her profession while still inviting the men.

Bryony Pennington’s barmaid, Ella, is bright and crisp, but you feel, has been waiting for love to arrive for a long time, and is scared it will leave as soon as it does. And let’s not forget regular Mr Eccles, played by Reece Causton.

The work does lose its soul a little in Act II when Bourne shifts the action to a dance club, a cinema, a Lyons Tea House and, most notably, a seedy hotel. But fear not, because it all comes back to where it should, the bar of The Midnight Bell with all the regulars in attendance. I wonder what happened next.

Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell is at Sadler’s Wells, London to June 21, 2025.
It then continues on tour into the early autumn. Visit www.new-adventures.net for dates, venues and booking links.