Beauty and the Beast: till 22 February

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: Laurence Boswell
RSC Stratford: Tkts 0870 609 1110
Runs: 2h 30m, one interval, till 22 February 2004 check details, evenings often at 7.15 and there are Sunday performances
Review: Rod Dungate, 10 December 2003

Something totally different, and so exciting it takes your breath away
There are times when it's good reviewing plays, there are times when it's not so good. There are times when it's very good and there are a very few occasions when it's fantastic. Laurence Boswell's version of Beauty and the Beast is one of these: simple, complex, elegant, funny, moving storytelling. The RSC, recognised for the opulence of many of the shows it produces for young audiences at this time of year has stripped everything away except the absolute essential which it then executes to perfection. The result is an intensely beautiful work not to be missed whatever your age.

Beauty and the Beast is one of the earliest fairy stories told for children. To tell it, Boswell divides his company broadly into two a chorus of storyteller/ dancers and the characters. The chorus favour black, the characters favour white. He then, for all facets of production (story, design, music, dance et al) draws on a gigantic range of cultural references. Rugby makes an appearance as does the Matrix: and bodhrans mix easily with Eastern vocals. Far from feeling like a mish-mash of styles Boswell welds the pieces into a whole that is thrilling in its rich diversity and exciting in its welcoming accessibility.

Aoife McMahon's Beauty is a modern young woman: she is a million miles from anything sentimentally girlie. Eating with the Beast she copies the way he eats it's both funny and touching. Adam Levy finds the poise between hideousness and pain for his Beast. The Beast is scary, yes, but we never lose sight of his inner goodness 'He kissed both your cheeks' Beauty reminds her father.

While Boswell's version treats the story with great respect, it's far from po-faced. Humour keeps bobbing up its irreverent head: nowhere more so than in Beauty's two sisters Veronique (the horrible one) and Marie-Claire (the thick one) Sophie Winkleman and Dorothy Atkinson. Julie Legrand plays Beauty's mum and doubles as a statuesque Witch though here, witch means wise woman and although she can wind up spells she also promotes silence as the starting point for a journey of self discovery. 'Everything comes from silence' she says.

Marvellous vocal and physical work from the chorus too. These nine people are really in the centre of the production and its story. Highly energised, stylised in black outfits and white faces, they reveal for us over and over again the multi-layered richness of this play.

Chorus: Phillip Aiden
Marie Claire/ Beast's Maid: Dorothy Atkinson
Chorus: Julie Barnes
Chorus: Lee Boggess
Jean Louis: John Bowler
Chorus: Margie Chadwick
Chorus: Sergio Covino
Chorus: Nicola Filshie
Swing/ Dance Captain: Heather Habens
Swing: David Hulston
Helene/ The Witch: Julie Legrand
Beast: Adam Levy
Chorus: David Lucas
Chorus: Lucy Potter
Beauty: Aoife McMahon
Chorus: Barry McNeill
Phillipe/ Beast's Man: Gary Sefton
Andre: Darren Tunstall
Veronique: Sophie Winkleman
Emile: Miltos Yerolemou

Writer/ Director: Laurence Boswell
Music: Mick Sands
Music Director: John Woolf
Designer: Jeremy Herbert
Costume Designer: Kandis Cook
Choreographer: Stuart Hopps
Lighting: Adam Silverman
Sound: Mic Pool
Assistant Director: Frances Moore

2003-12-11 13:39:06