PETER AND THE WOLF. To 20 April.
London.
PETER AND THE WOLF
by Sergei Prokofiev new text by Abi Bown from a story by Jan Geenan new music by Philip Feeney.
Hackney Empire To 20 April 2008.
Tue-Sun 1pm & 5pm.
Runs 1hr 30min One interval.
TICKETS: 020 8985 2424.
www.hackneyempire.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 13 April.
Colourful new ballet with some attractive new music and full-voltage narration.
Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf was a 1936 attempt to introduce Soviet children to the instruments of the orchestra, several of which are associated with animals such as the prowling Cat, while Peter himself is heard in the strings. His tune is re-orchestrated softly then grandly as he lassoes a Wolf that’s consumed the family Duck and has his eyes on other livestock.
Here, it’s preceded by a new story, in which Peter and friends venture into a forest and meet the animals who’ll later turn up at Peter’s home. Peter makes a first attempt to catch the Wolf.
This introduces the Prokofiev characters without interfering with his story. It can seem slightly hygienic, with talk of the humans’ place of safety in the forest, while the links between instruments, characters and places ranges more widely – marimbas and piano, for example – with less definition than Prokofiev provides.
Yet Philip Feeney’s music for the first act lacks only Prokofiev’s eidetic tunes. It’s infectious (some of the 1930s score seems rough and edgy in comparison) and sweeps the story along.
This new act is splendidly staged by Anne Geenan for In The Wings theatre, enhanced by Didi Veldman‘s animated choreography. Designer Paul Gallis provides a birch-forest which looks beautiful in the evocative colours of David W Kidd’s lighting. The fence-bound farm for the Prokofiev is apt for its tighter action, but the new first act gains in its group movement and twittering Bird, fluffily lovable Duck, a Wolf that’s sinister and sudden, and furrily agile Cat.
Brian Blessed narrated Prokofiev’s Ivan the Terrible music in Glasgow some years back in a full-blooded, not to say full-throated, style. Here he adds a range of farmyard impressions (impressive) and talent as a cheer-leader, encouraging youthful appreciation at the curtain-call.
True, he can seem wary while waiting for a music cue, and despite the importance of Peter’s lasso, the short piece of rope Blessed kept twisting in his hands never served any obvious purpose.
Never mind; this is a colourful musical adventure; it’s to be hoped plans for a possible London Christmas season are realised.
Narrator: Brian Blessed.
Dancers: Jo Meredith, Katherine Kingston, Maurizio Montis, Olly Pike, Philine Janssens, Paul James Rooney, Alessandro Cito, Joel Corpuz, Francesca Poglie, Daniel Rosseel, Christopher Marney, Jon Morley, Caroline Lynn.
Director: Anne Geenan.
Designer: Paul Gallis.
Lighting: David W Kidd.
Musical Director: Tim Murray.
Choreographer: Didy Veldman.
Assistant to choreographer: Monica Mengarelli.
Costume: Yan Tax, Marie Lauwers.
2008-04-15 02:26:49