BEYOND MIDNIGHT To 26 November.
Tour.
BEYOND MIDNIGHT
by Diane Samuels.
Trestle Theatre Tour to 26 November 2005.
Runs: 2hr One interval.
Review: Rod Dungate at mac Birmingham 21 October 2005.
Dark, fascinating, but doesn't grab you with its full potential.
Trestle explore a dark, sometimes very dark, side of the Cinderella myth in their latest production.
The tone is set with the opening line – 'Cinderella is dead'. This play centres around her daughter. The young princess has our sympathy at the beginning; but this princess – Princess Amanda - is selfish, self-centred, a person who thinks the world owes her a living. The Ugly Sisters are here too, but gain our sympathy almost in direct proportion to the amount Amanda loses. There is no fairy tale happy ending; though there is resolution. Cinderella realises she is the architect of her own destiny and that she has much about herself to explore and learn.
Trestle use elements from traditional tales (a bear for instance) but each is given new purpose so that complex (and to judge by young people in the audience the night I saw it) shocking issues are explored. There is something visceral about Trestle's exploration, it's in this its power lies.
However, the play sags occasionally. There's a significant amount of dialogue and frequently Samuels' writing doesn't match the power of the action, dialogue is stilted or, worse, mundane. Too often the speaking is under-energised so the play fails to reach out to us and definition is lost.
Elisa de Grey, Princess Amanda, gently holds our hand and takes us on her journey, Andrew Joshi is a charming companion to her as the Bird Boo and Simon Startin brings some lively humour as the Commissioner.
Florence Ugly: Vic Bryson.
Princess Amanda/Many Fur: Elisa de Grey.
Boo: Andrew Joshi.
Prince/King: Ben O'Sullivan.
Gloria Ugly: Karen Spicer.
Chancellor/Bear/Commissioner: Simon Startin.
Director: Emily Gray.
Designer: Tim Meacock.
Lighting: Laura Miles.
Composer: Matthew Bugg.
Prince's songs composed by: Ben O'Sullivan.
Associate director: Sarah Thom.
2005-10-23 14:41:52