DVD + Blu-Ray:
Critics' Choice - Kes reimagined

An emotional dance piece which brings the much-loved book and film to the stage.

The Opus Arte Critics’ Choice series is a diverse range of titles, featuring some of the most acclaimed recordings in the label’s catalogue at a very special price. In this series we celebrate many famous classics while also revisiting some of the more innovative, original and perhaps less well-known productions that the label has long been renowned for showcasing. All the new Critics' Choice releases contain the beautifully designed, original artwork and colour booklets which, along with a new unique cover design uniting all the titles, makes them ideal for collectors.

Kes reimagined is a film by award-winning choreographer Jonathan Watkins and International Emmy award-winning director Ross MacGibbon, based on the novel "A Kestrel for a Knave" by Barry Hines

Jonathan Watkins’s acclaimed production was conceived and created for Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre in 2014.

Set in a Yorkshire mining community, this reimagining of Hines’s tale told through dance and puppetry, takes us on a journey with the young working-class boy, Billy Casper. Billy is troubled at home and at school but his outlook on life is transformed when he finds and trains a kestrel. As the beloved Kes swoops and spins in the expansive freedom of the Yorkshire countryside, Billy’s self-confidence begins to soar and boy and bird become one.

"Genuinely too powerful for words" (The Guardian ★★★★)

"…This film is exceptional story-telling in dance" (Dance Tabs)

Genre Ballet
Production year 2019
Choreography by Jonathan Watkins
Stage Director Jonathan Watkins
TV Director Ross MacGibbon
Composer Alex Baranowski
Soloist Chester Hayes
Soloist Tobias Batley
Soloist Dom Czapski
Soloist Kristen McNally
Soloist Phil Snowden
Soloist Anton Skrzypiciel
Soloist Laura Careless
Soloist Barnaby Meredith