THE story of a boy with scissors for hands may not seem an obvious choice for a ballet, but Matthew Bourne’s gothic fairytale isn’t your obvious ballet.

Based on Tim Burton’s cult 1990 movie, Matthew’s acclaimed show brings Edward Scissorhands to the stage as a striking piece of dance theatre.

When his inventor dies before completing him, Edward is alone and helpless, until a suburban family takes him in. The white picket fence community means well but struggles to accept him, and Edward remains an outsider.

Set to a lively score based on Danny Elfman’s soundtrack to the Edward Scissorhands movie, Matthew’s show features plenty of laughs, a little creepiness, and impressive stunts, including Edward cutting hair, carving ice sculptures and creating dancing topiary people. It’s a family show that draws on Matthew’s lifelong love of cinema.

Today he’s a world renowned choreographer and director, who has worked on West End shows such as Mary Poppins and My Fair Lady and whose company New Adventures has turned ballet upside-down with hit shows such as Car Man and an all-male Swan Lake, but Matthew didn’t start dancing until the age of 22. Born and raised in Walthamstow, he credits his childhood obsession with films as his main influence.

“My first love was film, especially the big Hollywood musicals. When I was about 15, I was an autograph-hunter and used to follow big stars like Gene Kelly around London,” says Matthew. “Cinema influenced me more than anything, still does.”

It took Matthew seven years to bring Edward Scissorhands to the stage. He directed and choreographed the show, and although he felt a responsibility to the film, he was determined to create something new.

“There are many film adaptations on the London stage. Some, like Billy Elliot and Mary Poppins, are great and some aren’t. They make theatre accessible but there has to be a new approach, you can’t just re-create the film,” says Matthew.

Matthew drew gasps when he transformed Swan Lake into a stylish, witty, audacious show featuring an all-male corps de ballet. It became a multi award-winning worldwide hit and the longest-running ballet in the West End and Broadway, sealing Matthew’s reputation as both a dance maverick and commercial success.

Matthew insists on acting from his dancers. In Edward Scissorhands they have individual characters, all dressed differently with their own comical facial expressions.

“I’m not into the ensemble approach, the cloned ballerinas you get in classical ballet,” he says. “Obviously my dancers are fit, but they’re different shapes and sizes. I want the audience to think: ‘They look like me.’ I always strive for humour, it breaks the ice. You might get someone who’s been dragged along to the show, they’re not sure about it, then suddenly they’re laughing out loud and engrossed in an abstract ballet with dancing topiary people.”

Edward Scissorhands is more like musical theatre – without the songs – than ballet. There’s not actually much ballet in it, which Matthew makes no apology for. “Approach it as a ballet and you’ll be disappointed,” he says. “You can’t pigeon-hole it. I wanted a big, popular family show, something teenagers would ask their parents to take them to. You don’t get many teenagers at the theatre.”

Edward Scissorhands is on at the Alhambra from February 24 to 28. Call 01274 432000.