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Latest items? Unedited? Fringe Report Uncut
Rumplestiltskin and Other Grizzly Tales
Verdict: Very long pick-and-mix
London - New Wimbledon Studio - 30 Nov - 23 Dec 04 (2hr-15min)
The title is a bit misleading (writes Isabel Robinson. This is a pick-and-mix of playlets, poems, music and storytelling where Rumplestiltskin is just one of 14 tales, adapted for stage by Alistair Green and Joanna Volinska. And grizzly they are too, in a world where the Brothers Grimm do just as their name suggests. It runs at 2hr-15min in two halves with interval.
The 8-strong ensemble flood onto the fairy-light bedecked stage to perform the American poem Beware the Rumpleman, a terrible cautionary tale, which leads straight into the first playlet: Rumplestiltskin. Derek Elwood stars as the rather camp and manic King, demanding gold spun from straw. Carole Carpenter is the woebegone girl who promises her first-born child to the terrifying Rumplestiltskin in exchange for help spinning the straw.
Dave Roberts plays Rumplestiltskin in a frightening mask, singing over and over about a boy with nails in his eyes – one might wonder if this really is for children. Most of tonight’s audience are adults, who are horrified when it turns out that The Rump Man has torn himself in two. The only child present, a little boy, laughs – and so becomes the night’s child-o-meter, handy for judging response.
The Good Girl and the Naughty Girl is a monologue brilliantly executed by Rosie Armstrong. A naughty girl gets her just deserts ‘the little Bitch!’ - at which the child-o-meter laughs heartily.
Not all the monologues work so well, eg The Man Who Did Good, a Polish tale performed by Phil Buck. The Neighbourly Favour while well-characterised by performer Chris Courtenay is little more than a very long joke - and not a terribly funny one.
Parsley Girl, an odd Italian tale, has some very amusing moments. There are three crowd-pleasing nuns who turn out to be witches, led by Sarah Ratheram, who seems to be having as much fun as the audience in her role.
Sarah Ratheram is the naughty Lazy Bones a Russian story The Shroud. There’s a frightening corpse and plot. The child-o-meter agrees - it is pretty scary.
A Pottle O’Brains lightens the mood. Its message - the only remedy for a fool is a clever wife. Poor wife!
The show’s highlight is a cleverly-written English version of Three Little Pigs, performed by the ensemble. It’s a witty poem with plenty of scope for comedy. Dave Roberts’s Wolf wears shades and a fur coat. Kathryn O’Reilly’s Riding Hood shoots him with a gun she keeps in her knickers.
The show so far leads the audience into traditional fairytale land - accepting fools, wolves and spinning wheels. Princess Olivia’s Night Out bizarrely clashes genres. It’s a monologue in which an average modern urban princess with a nice job and plenty of princes to chose from, wrestles with her inner goblin once she hits booze and night clubs. It’s an effort to listen. Is it for children? The dads certainly aren’t listening – it’s hard not simply to stare in surprise at Kathryn O’Reilly’s barely lace-clad boobs.
There’s an interval. With an hour clocked up, the child-o-meter looks fidgety at the prospect of another full hour.
The famous American playlet The Monkey’s Paw is a disturbing tale of a cursed monkey’s paw granting three wishes to a small family, with horrific consequences. There’s child-death and parents (Rosie Armstrong, Chris Courtenay). It’s a frightening ordeal for children, and a series of tedious set of scene changes makes it over-long.
The Little Match Seller is an unspoken series of tableaux set to music. Music throughout is by the cast. There’s some haunting cello and melancholic piano.
The Princess and the Pea brings out Sarah Ratheram’s comic skills as the ‘Pwinceth’. Derek Elwood is brilliant as ‘Pwinth’. It’s fun. The child-o-meter seems to enjoy this one.
The Shoemaker and the Elves. Dave Roberts and Kathryn O’Reilly play an old couple whose interaction provides some strong comic moments. The elves are puppets – with captivating puppet-work from the rest of the cast. It’s charmingly performed, though again a clash of genre. Rosie Armstrong very skilfully plays on the flute Human League’s Don’t You Want Me Baby – the relevance of which isn’t clear. The puppets have an odd costume-change on stage. But the story enchants – a highlight of the show.
Vasilissa the Brave is a Russian version of Ashputtle or Cinderella. Carole Carpenter is the down-trodden step-daughter to evil step-mother Kathryn O’Reilly and step-sisters Dave Roberts and Derek Elwood.
Some terrifying masks and puppets makes the child-o-meter look pretty unsure of things – his face gets grizzlier by the minute. Vasilissa treks through a forest filled with frightening animal sounds. Just as the piece becomes truly atmospheric, there’s a mew - and the whole ensemble chants ‘Ah, Kittens’.
It’s indicative of the show as a whole. There are some great comic moments. The cast have clearly had lots of fun devising with director Alistair Green. But the mixed messages and genres jar, and unnecessary scene changes make the piece feel disjointed.
With some slicing and splicing of Grimm brutality, this could be an enchanting gallop through fairy-tales from round the globe. For now it remains long and confusing.
Cast Credits: (alpha order): Rosie Armstrong, Philip Buck, Carole Carpenter, Chris Courtenay, Derek Elwood, Kathryn O’Reilly, Sarah Ratheram, Dave Roberts.
Company Credits: Adapted by Alistair Green & Joanna Volinska. Director - Alistair Green. Designer - Tracy Waller. Lighting - Ben Pickersgill. Music by Vanessa Lucas-Smith & Jon Langford. Company - Horla.
END
(c) Isabel Robinson 2004
reviewed Tuesday 7 December 04 / New Wimbledon Studio
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012
www.fringereport.com
