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3 December 2010
Rapunzel
"by the Creation Theatre Company directed by Charlotte
Conquest. "
By: A theatre review by Julia Gasper Anybody who saw the Creation Theatre Company’s Christmas entertainment given at the Cowley Mini-plant in the Mirror Tent last year will be keenly looking forward to this one. And they will not be disappointed. Once again, the company has taken a traditional story and turned it into a high-spirited medley of mime, dance, music, acrobatics, comedy, fantasy costumes and special effects of sound and lighting. The music has been specially written by Jack Merivale for the script by Annie Siddons. The result is very special. Boldly mixing old and new, princes and clowns, puppetry and trapdoor surprises, this is more than a play, more than a show, more than just another pantomime: it is a creative theatrical event, and truly magical. The Mirror Tent was, as usual, a festive and stylish venue, festooned with lights and offering a performance in the round. We call them fairy-tales but possibly the name scary-tales would be more apposite. Beautiful Rapunzel (Amy Noble) is abandoned at birth and brought up by Mother Gothell, a herbalist, to use the politically-correct term for a witch (Nicholas Osmond, cross-dressing). When the baby becomes a girl, Mother Gothell grows so jealous and possessive that she imprisons Rapunzel in a tower for five years, and takes a horrible revenge on the young Prince, Patrizio, (Martin Richardson) who finds and falls in love with her. She stabs out his eyes, and he wanders blindly through the woods seeking Rapunzel until after their reunion her tears magically cure him. She is helped to find him by an enchanted boar, the Magic Pig of the title, who bestows on her three golden acorns (we will not say how) and lends one more touch of random oddity to the tale. Patrizio’s scheming brother Paolo, understandably resentful at not getting the throne, tries to get him murdered or at least reported dead, but the clown Pierluigi (Richard Kidd) proves too much for him, aided or at times hindered by the rogue Prezzamolina (Rachel Donovan, who looks like Heather Mills). All ends happily, of course. Patrizio is re-united with his grieving father, and Rapunzel is decked out for her wedding in a multi-coloured hippy-style dress that is the jolliest garment since Joseph’s technicolour dreamcoat. I hope that Kate Middleton wears something equally cheerful and imaginative for her wedding. The one thing I would like to change about this production is the slightly over-generous use of dry ice. It’s cold enough outside without making the audience shiver indoors. Wear knee-length boots is my advice. If you are looking for something to kick off the Christmas season, something suitable for all ages, don’t miss this magical event. http://www.creationtheatre.co.uk/ Image supplied by Creation Theatre | ||
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