Eric Fr?ric tries hard in acting the miller whose amorous adventures provide the story, but nothing he does has enough character. St?anie Roublet dances nicely as his wife, but rather too lightly, while Gregory Milan's fault as the lecherous Corregidor is exactly the opposite: overacting like mad, wearing ludicrous make-up.The remaining work is an oddity. Indeed, full marks all evening to Birmingham's Royal Ballet Sinfonia under Thomas Rosner's direction.The company's dancers do well by the ensembles; unfortunately, the three principals don't bring off their roles so well. With its parade of circus performers trying to attract an audience, this may not be the greatest of ballets, but it's distinctive and intriguing.Massine's own role, the Chinese conjurer, needs more bite and command than Istvan Martin gives it, but H?ne Ballon and Ludovic Dussarps give an attractively smooth flow to the acrobats, who don't actually do any acrobatics but have a long, unusual duet.The Three-Cornered Hat is a bigger, more colourful work, with its elaborate Spanish costumes, standing out against an elegantly simplified landscape, and De Falla's impassioned score. In Parade, to a theme by Cocteau, Picasso's designs introduced Cubism into ballet, and they had a witty, mordantly tuneful score by Satie. He is still in great form and gets every nuance of emotion right, from impetuous departure to tragic return. Picasso's first two ballets open the bill, both rarities here, and well worth seeing, especially as they both have choreography by the unjustly neglected Massine. Further assets are Emmanuelle Grizot's beautifully predatory playing of the Siren, and, above all, a moving account of the title role by Charles Jude, who was Nureyev's greatest prot? and now directs the Bordeaux Ballet.
But who is going to complain about hearing Prokofiev's best ballet score and seeing one of Balanchine's earliest existing ballets?This has another fine painter as its designer, Georges Rouault. Instead, we got The Prodigal Son, quite outside the original theme. The programme for the Bordeaux Opera Ballet's British debut began in France as an evening with decors all by Picasso, but one of them, Cuadro Flamenco, didn't arrive here, perhaps because Edinburgh couldn't afford the extra Spanish-dance company needed. I don't have the patience for the post-production," he says, grinning.'Playing the Victim' opens at the Royal Court Theatre, London SW1 (020-7565 5000) on Monday. He enjoys his work, but when I ask if there's anything he still badly wants to do, he replies, "No, not really," although on reflection he quite fancies dabbling in the movies He's a big film buff - Pedro Almodovar is a favourite "I would like to direct a film - 35mm, with a big budget But only one.
Accepting may have been partly ego, but I'm on the board of various charities" - he is Rector of Glasgow University, a governor of Sadler's Wells and a spokesman for pensioners' rights and for Landmine Action - "and I'm always trying to raise money for them, so I thought it might give me a bit of extra clout."Wilson seems comfortable both with himself and with the choices he has made in his life and career. What do we do? I don't know the answer."With his leftist politics and anti-establishment stance, it perhaps comes as some surprise that he is Richard Wilson OBE Did he have any qualms about accepting? "I did I thought about it for a long time. I didn't go to the palace, though; the Lord Lieutenant had to come to the National Theatre to see me. A lot of people like me are facing a real dilemma at the moment. "I feel we've lost the sense of truth in the Labour Party, and I don't trust the Government very much.
