MATTHEW Bourne has given a nip and tuck to this modern day fairytale to deliver a production that is a cut above all others.

In revisiting this dance-drama based on the classic movie by Tim Burton it is difficult to imagine a more magical and enchanting show.

Coming ten years after Bourne’s last production and an incredible 25 years after Johnny Depp starred in the film as the gothic sweetheart left with giant scissors for hands by his mad inventor, expectations were going to be high.

It didn’t disappoint.

The staging and design of Lez Brotherston is delightful, from the pastel, unified houses and clipped hedges to the inventive costumes – not least Edward – the bionic boy with the spectacular scissor hands.

There is so much to dazzle here but at the heart of this show, which is both melancholic and magical, marvellous and moving, is the comic and tragic and essentially human story of the outsider.

We sympathise with Edward, who is trapped in the prison of this strange body.

He tries to make friends, fit in and belong by copying the behaviour and body language of the suburbanites.

Bourne captures this perfect, manicured suburbia through his dance sequences that take on a production line feel and contrasts this with the deeply moving duets between Edward and his beau Kim Boggs, beautifully danced and performed by Ashley Shaw. Dominic North brilliantly captures Edward.

First in his wide-eyed wonderment at this strange American suburbia he has been brought into.

Then later as he becomes more human we empathise with the more human figure who only wants to be loved.

Not a word is spoken – the entire story is told through the physical body movements, dance and facial expressions combined with dramatic music by Danny Elfman and Terry Davies specially recorded in surround sound for this New Adventures touring production.

A unique and fantastical show.