Lullaby – King’s Theatre Edinburgh ★★★★★
“23 years later. We will be with you shortly. Thank you for your patience.”
Choreographer and dancer Jasmin Vardimon MBE has led an illustrious career. She has engaged, thrilled, and delighted audiences across national and international tours, with productions well known for their social and political commentary. The original Lullaby premiered in 2003, receiving critical acclaim for its portrayal of our relationship with illness and hospitals. In 2026, Sadler’s Wells, Ashford Borough Council, and DanceEast co-commissioned a modern reimagining which should not be missed.
Today’s Lullaby consists of interconnected stories set in a hospital ward, told through the medium of dance and supported by stunning visuals and audio. The stories are varied, and some make for uneasy viewing. The choreography expertly dances across themes of miscarriage, cancer, alcohol use, relationship breakdown, violence towards medical professionals, violence from medical professionals, ageing, and the rise of technology-enabled care and Artificial Intelligence. While it is indisputably modern dance, the styles and movement within are so varied that the audience is continuously drawn in.
Blue hospital curtains provide the main backdrop and are used to separate and connect scenes. Clever lighting and projection help tell the stories, with dancers existing on both sides of the curtains and across them. ‘Lullaby’ is visually rich. Beds, curtains, waiting room couches, an armchair, and walkers are seamlessly used to decorate the stage and as part of the choreography, occasionally providing rhythm and sound. There is even a powerful change of perspective which demonstrates the full artistry of the set design team.
Some scenes show universal experiences, such as a group dance commenting on the frustrations of queuing, while others are focused on individuals, allowing dancers their solos, and others are split within scenes. There is near-constant juxtaposition, highlighting how varied the breadth of human experience in hospital can be. A medic dances as smoothly as water while a panicked nurse searches for something. Two hospital rooms, with clocks showing different times, the dancing within them mirrored and different, then mirrored again. The music choices enhance the dualities presented, as feverish dance is set to calm music, and elegant, slow dancing is set to faster tempos, while at other times the music is completely complementary.
The dancers themselves are exceptional. Some scenes feature movements so controlled and elegant, the audience may forget that this is not camera-induced slow motion. The dancers’ facial expressions are incredibly moving, showing loss, grief, and complete impassivity when required. In one scene, a dancer is spun around while her face remains entirely neutral.
While there are bright moments within the show, there is no fairytale ending. Lullaby showcases the hard realities of the increasingly complex medical landscape we find ourselves in. The proportion of people dying from cancer may have decreased, but the proportion of people being diagnosed with cancer has increased. Human existence lives in sickness and in health, and looking after our NHS and ourselves is everyone’s responsibility.
Lullaby is a wake-up call that refuses to soothe ★★★★★ 5 stars
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