GRIMMS 2003. To 21 December.

London

GRIMMS 2003
adapted by Alistair Green, with contributions by Andrew Jones and Dominic Currie

Horla theatre company at Greenwich Playhouse To 21 December 2003
Tue-Sat 7.45pm Sun 4pm
Runs 2hr 15min One interval

TICKETS: 020 8858 9256
Review: Timothy Ramsden 7 December

Compelling theatricality in a show that demonstrates human fascination with the macabre operates world-wide.Just what's needed for a festive season: stories running from death by meat to murder by apple. Food by means percussive or digestive isn't the only threat in a theatrical melange which successfully ranges far wider than its punning title might suggest.

Roald Dahl, Alfred Hitchcock, and various national story-stocks throw ingredients into the macabre mix, leaving the Grimms themselves only the final say. Alistair Green's production doesn't emphasise these diverse origins, opting for a minimalist, quick-moving style that emphasises humour and the sheer grimness within humanity's natural capabilities.

The two modern authors flavour blackness with irony, Dahl in the way the forces of law innocently dispose of the evidence they're seeking. And Hitchcock in the literally blackest scene, with only an occasional cigarette-lighter illuminating invisibility literal and moral as greed, via fate's fatal twist, comes to a nightmare end.

Earlier scenes are anecdotally brief one to the point of near non-existence. The structure rightly builds to more extended stories, including a Russian tale of a soldier locking forces with a vampire which strikingly sucks the blood of stilled wedding-celebrants. A single soldier facing-off a different kind of enemy appealed to traditional civil populations. Today's troopers just ain't what they used to be, narrative wise.

By the time this all culminates in Snow White', the company's earned the right to introduce sideswipes at pantomime mannerisms. But doing this produces a feeling the story's not been mined for its full impact themes such as innocence, vanity and jealousy are glossed over. It makes the climax somewhat unclimactic.

But that's in comparison with the vivid, pacy storytelling that's gone before. There are several strong performances, but most memorable is the company's physical ensemble no wonder they enter and form a group image at the start. It's strong enough to accommodate in-jokes (Oh no, a forest of mime artists,' one character complains at having to weave through the branch-resembling troupe).

Oh, and there's audience involvement too, with fast-action replay, in Russia's Baba Yaga'. Nothing to worry about though and a lot to enjoy in this very individual, energetic, stimulating show.

Performers:
Fiona Aldridge, Ruth Connelly, Chris Hampson, Victoria Hayes, Rebecca Naylor, Elizabeth Park, Thomas Power
Musicians: Catherine Guy, Jonathan Langford, Vanessa Lucas-Smith

Director: Alistair Green
Designer: Tracy Waller
Lighting: Ben Pickersgill
Composer/Musical Director: Vanessa Lucas-Smith
Choreographer/Assistant director: Kristen Rago
Associate Director: Joanna Volinska

2003-12-15 01:15:15