Pete Townshend’s Quadrophenia, a Mod Ballet

Pete Townshend’s Quadrophenia, his critically acclaimed rock opera inspired by the mods and rockers era of the 1960s, has now been made into a ballet…

Serena McCall (Mod Girl) and Dan Baines (Ace Face) in ‘Quadrophenia, a Mod Ballet’. © Johan Persson.

Pete Townshend’s Quadrophenia, a Mod Ballet
★★✰✰✰
London, Sadler’s Wells
25 June 2025
modballet.com
www.sadlerswells.com

You know something hasn’t quite jelled when the lead protagonist (Jimmy, in this case) is contemplating suicide, and long before he tries, you so want to shout an encouraging ‘Jump’.

Which is a shame because Pete Townshend’s Quadrophenia, his evocation of the 1960s mods and rockers era, has echoed down the decades in many reincarnations since it was first released by The Who, to critical acclaim, in 1973. It was toured then and again in 1996/7, and in various forms during the 2010s, with a Live in London CD emerging in 2014. There was the film in 1979, with versions on CD in 1993 and 2000. An orchestrated telling, played by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, emerged in 2015, and a tour based on that followed in 2017.

That’s an awful lot of success, and it’s easy to understand why — it’s a timeless tale following the life of a young man and his often unhappy ‘…search for self-worth and importance.’ Much of that comes down to the lyrics of Townshend, which for the most part are easily comprehended, and Roger Daltrey’s fabulous singing of those lyrics. There are some good melodies too, even if none are really so emblematic of The Who in the way some singles and other albums were. The orchestrated version was created by Rachel Fuller (Townshend’s partner) and Martin Batchelar, and is the basis of this latest telling; however, when first done it featured those all-important story lyrics (sung by Alfie Boe, supported by the London Oriana Choir, Billy Idol, and Phil Daniels), and here they are dropped, leaving movement and design to do all the heavy lifting. This should not be a problem, surely, because Matthew Bourne has been knocking contemporary storytelling out of the park for over 30 years now, and this production (directed by Rob Ashford) follows in that tradition. Indeed the lead here, Paris Fitzpatrick, came to much-loved prominence as one of Bourne’s New Adventures leads.

Other good ingredients include Paul Smith’s fabulous 1960s costumes and terrific set design, lighting and videos by, respectively, Christopher Oram, Fabiana Piccioli and YEASTCULTURE.ORG. It’s one of those seamless stagings where scenes gently morph from one to another as scenery glides in and out, often placed by the dancers. It’s super slick, although there was the odd lighting misplacement on press night — which will be rapidly fixed, I’m sure.

What really didn’t work for me in this telling was the music and choreography, and ultimately they colluded to deliver what came across as a lightweight plot that didn’t draw me in or make me care one jot. The orchestration seems to be on steroids, with the volume turned right up (thankfully not to bonkers levels, but definitely overdone), and all delicacy is lost. The choreography, as the title indicates, is a ballet take, but Paul Roberts’ impressive CV is mostly about work with pop stars, Eurovision, The Grammys, The BRITs etc. There is basic ballet movement at best with much swirling and turning, and it all seems in the service of spectacle rather than using movement to really get under the skin of characters and show their emotional state. Here, the movement, over 22 scenes/songs, just doesn’t convey the plot, although I did feel moved by a section where Jimmy’s dad relives his time as a soldier in the Second World War.

Grafted into the soundtrack is a scene based on The Who’s ‘My Generation’ — from 1965, with youthful lyrics, it’s nominally a fine fit. But shorn of lyrics, we get a solo that really doesn’t take off, and through much of it, I kept thinking I want to see contemporary film of the band sweatily defining the time, each word ramming home what it is to be young and moody. Come the end, the audience applauded the scene, and I really didn’t understand why — it more than missed its mark. Similarly, by the end of the night, there was a standing ovation, when for much of the preceding ten minutes, I’d been willing Jimmy to cut the longueurs and jump so I could get an early 341 bus back to Waterloo.

Quadrophenia, a Mod Ballet is a slick-looking work, but I’m not convinced by the orchestrated take, and I think using original versions complete with Daltrey singing would deliver much more in terms of drama and just sound better all around. That and movement from an established narrative choreographer. But I suspect Quadrophenia will sell well, based on the name and nostalgia, and folks will see a slick musical theatre work that will make them happy enough. But for me, it could be so much more.