THE EMPEROR AND THE NIGHTINGALE: Neil Duffield

Birmingham

THE EMPEROR AND THE NIGHTINGALE
by Neil Duffield

MAC
Runs: 1hr 45mins One interval
Review: Kim Durham: 17 December 2003

A Reworking of Hans Christian Anderson's moral fableThis year's Christmas offering at the MAC is a Hans Christian Anderson moral fable. The young Chinese Emperor, Wu, confined for many years in the Forbidden City, is given a lesson in living by his assistant parasol carrier, as they travel beyond the walls of the palace in search of the nightingale. Later he learns the true worth of things by coming to recognise the difference between a fabulously bejewelled mechanical replica nightingale and the real thing.

Bruce French's elegant red box of a set and Andy Garbi's music give the production a strong flavour of the tale's Chinese setting. There's excellent use too of traditional Eastern storytelling methods in the use of shadow puppets and shadow play.

There's no disguising though that this is very definitely a morality tale, and for much of the time it feels a little like theatre that is supposed to be good for you. Neil Duffield's adaptation, especially in the earlier sections, relies heavily on the cast narrating the story and on the afternoon I saw the show this resulted in a high foot-shuffling quotient from a well-mannered schools audience.

Things perked up with the arrival of a pair of screeching monkeys with a penchant for stealing and wearing teachers' coats. These were the moments that really worked; when actors were able to cut loose from the slightly worthy context of Hans Anderson's tale and have some fun.

Xiao: Ruth Brown
Father/ Dragon King/ Monkey: Tim Kane
Narrator/Peasant Woman?Clockmaker/Servant/ Monkey: Susanna Meese
Emperor Wu: Jamie Read
Li Si: Irvine Iqbal

Director: Malachi Bogdanov
Design: Bruce French
Music: Andy Garbi
Lighting: Richard G Jones

2003-12-18 10:35:40