SNOW WHITE. To 27 December.
SNOW WHITE
by Robert David MacDonald
Citizens' Theatre To 27 December 2003
Mon-Sat various dates 10.30am, 2pm, 5pm, 7pm, 8pm
Audio-described 17 December 10.30am, 18 December 10.30am & 7pm
BSL Signed 13 December 5pm No performance 25 December
Runs 1hr 45min One interval
TICKETS: 0141 429 0022
www.citz.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 1 December
Oodles of insolent theatricality lapped up by young and old.This is big-city, sassy Snow White. Only 15 miles separates it from Cumbernauld's Little sister production, but this is mean streets stuff. Robert David MacDonald goes ruthlessly back to the Grimms and Kenny Miller seems as ruthless in giving it a non-traditional Christmas perk. His direction's good, but his design isn't. His design's brilliant.
Brilliant black and white, calling on a range of artistic styles: strained expressionist angles, pop-art soup cans for the kitchen where a stylised slow march of Kitchen Assistants poke their fingers unhygenically into bodily orifices.
Yet this below-stairs grotesquery's the most conventional thing in a production that self-consciously announces its title on drop-flats: pure black and white with pretty snowflakes, or vengeful pink-tinted with insects crawling around.
It's streetwise, sexy and camp. The programme put in front of the children might refer to some briefly seen women as Girlfriends but there's a steamy, seamy side to the lurid roadside snogging we glimpse. Snow White herself's no tender pushover, while the folks she finds a home with are a criminal family rather than hard-working, hi-hoing little people. And the school-partied stalls and circle both responded eagerly to the slinkily slightly-cladded figure walking provocatively across the stage.
Sex is rooted in vanity for the Queen; her mirrored apartment's upstage, looking like a dressing-room mirror with its lightbulb surround. Within is the 3-panelled mirror, mirror on the wall that tells her of Snow White's continuing beauty before, in Dorian Gray manner, revealing the ugliness behind the older woman's preening.
It's a loud, savage parade and demands some audience effort to keep the plot in mind. Nor is it feelgood; cold glass shards implanting evil in eye and heart in Snow Queen fashion emphasise the force of Evil, infecting the weak king with physical convulsions. The Citizens' recommended 7 is certainly as low as audience age should go. But it's all done with inventive confidence and young audiences know how to respond.
Sitting in the circle, the most scaring thing was the thought of what monsters must be below in the Stalls, shouting so vociferously even Her Vile Majesty stood little chance against them. Seeing the civilised, uniformed groups troop politely out for ice-creams or coaches was a major relief and a tribute to the power of Citizens'-style theatre.
Queen: Julie Austin
Snow White's Father/King: Garry Collins
Snow White: Sally Reid
Prince Peter: Tommy Mullins
Outlaw Mother/Cook/Housekeeper: Anne Myatt
Servant/Huntsman: Martin Docherty
Snow White's Mother/Spirit of Mother/Old Wicked Witch/Party Guest: Toni Frutin
Queen's Guard/Passer-By/Outlaw/Duke/Kitchen Assistant: Kevin Brady
Queen's Guard/Mayor/Count/Bear/Kitchen Assistant: Bevan Connell
Monster in Ice/Major Domo: Andrew Glen
Queen's Guard/Townsman's Girlfriend/Mirror Reflection 1/Countess/Raven 3/Kitchen Assistant: Melanie Gray
Queen's Guard/Townsman/Outlaw/Ambassador/Kitchen Assistant: Joseph Johnson
Ice Spirit to Monster/Mirror Reflection 3/Princess Frida/Raven 1/Kitchen Assistant: Kimberley Shoniker
Passerby's Girlfriend/Mirror Reflection 2/Duchess/Raven 2/Kitchen Assistant/Old Hag Reflection: Samantha Young
Director/Designer: Kenny Miller
Lighting: Stuart Jenkins
Choreography: Imogen Claire
Assistant director: Carter Ferguson
2003-12-04 09:53:04