I MUST declare an interest from the outset. Having seen previous shows by Matthew Bourne, the director and choreographer of Highland Fling, and loved them, I was always likely to enjoy this one. Happily, my expectations were met.

The thing about Bourne is you always know you're watching one of his productions. Full of humour and high camp, they're about as far removed from traditional ballet as you can get.

In this show, revived from the 1994 original, we meet a group of boisterous Glaswegians on the eve of a wedding. It's the Trainspotting era (the ballet was influenced by the hit film) and the stags and hens are drinking and taking drugs at the less-than-glamorous Highland Fling social club. Onto the scene creeps a sylph, who captivates the groom and leads him to jump to his death at the end of the first act. If all this sounds a bit depressing, it actually isn't. Such are the many light touches - the groom waking up in a bra and knickers and, in true laddish style, head-butting someone, to name two examples - that the ballet never descends into bleakness.

Having said that, the second act is more sombre, with the whole cast bar the groom transformed as sylphs. The ending - when he finally gets the object of his desire, only to bring about her death - is dramatic and thought-provoking.

* Runs until Saturday. Box office 0870 9055060.

Published: 07/04/2005