Last night - before I was As Seen On Newsnight - Owen and I went to see the new production of Matthew Bourne's dance-noir THE CAR MAN at Sadlers Wells. I missed the Old Vic premiere in 2000 so was more than somewhat excited to finally see it in the steamy, illicit flesh.

I must admit for the first 15 minutes or so I was beginning to think "Could this be the one Bourne show that doesn't engage me?" then suddenly bang! We had a great reveal - which actually caused a rather flustered ripple across the peanut gallery - and there I was hooked. Suffice to say it boiled down to a gag from an old Danny La Rue skit on CARMEN:

Don Jose: I love Carmen
Mercedes: I know.. I've seen you with a few!

THE CAR MAN is a knowing take on THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE but being Bourne the inspiration also comes from several other films. POSTMAN is an inspired choice to fit with a reinterpreted version of Bizet's memorable score for CARMEN as both stories deal with the fatal consequences of a lustful relationship out of control. Mind you I added my own bit of cross-cultural referencing by running through the lyrics of CARMEN JONES as the music played!

In the Italian quarter of a Southern town called Harmony a drifter called Luca walks into the garage/diner run by Dino and his wife Lana and soon fills the position of Man Wanted.

He soon establishes his character among the macho workers there, sticks up for the bullied quiet co-worker Angelo and realizes that Lana is simmering with discontent with her oafish husband. Angelo is loved by Lana's younger sister Rita, the diner waitress, but the relationship is tentative for some reason.

One hot summer night it all comes to a head. While Dino's away Luca and Lana get busy in the upstairs apartment. Interrupted by Dino's return Luca finds a sexual conquest in one of the cars in the garage... he emerges followed by Angelo. Cue my engagement and the slight ruffling of some balletomane feathers.

But of course once the line is crossed there is no going back and in the best noir tradition by the interval curtain Dino is lying dead on the garage floor at the hands of Luca and Lana with lovesick Angelo in the frame.

I really loved the performances. Alan Vincent brought a brooding sensuality to Luca, physically vibrant in the first act and broken by his crimes in the second act with an excellent drunk scene in a club. Michaela Meazza was a tall and sinuous Lana, Richard Winsor was excellent as Angelo, left broken and vengeful by his abuse at the hands of others, Kerry Biggin was moving in the potentially tricky 'nice' role and Bourne's longtime colleague Scott Ambler was delightful as the cuckolded husband. The company were marvellously energetic with an explosive dance-off early on that had a distinct nod to WEST SIDE STORY. As usual the production was helped immeasurably by Lez Brotherston's set design and Chris Davey's lighting.

The score by the very fine Terry Davies is a reworked version of Rodion Shchedrin's Carmen Suite and it made the familiar music new and vibrant orchestrating it for percussive and latino rhythms. The score actually played a huge part in making the show so suspenseful and thrilling.

We are definitely going to see Matthew Bourne's acclaimed re-imagining of NUTCRACKER which will be on at Sadlers Wells over Christmas... and the great news is that there is going to be a new New Adventures production sometime in 2008.

Although it finishes at Sadlers Wells this Saturday it will be popping up again in Wimbledon in September.