THE HAPPY PRINCE. To 29 December.
Stirling
THE HAPPY PRINCE
by Oscar Wilde adapted by Annie Wood
Macrobert Centre (Playhouse studio) To 14; 24-29 December 2002
Tue-Fri 10.30am & 1.30pm Sat 11am & 2pm Sun 11am & 3pm
Polka Theatre, Wimbledon, South London, To 26 April; 17-28 June 2003 also Tour (see below)
Runs 55min No interval
TICKETS 01786 466666 (Stirling)
Review Timothy Ramsden 1 December
A happy (near) hour with a clear version of Wilde's story neatly attuned to the early 21st century.Here, for over 3s, is a gently touching, at times comic retelling of Oscar Wilde's tale. Weepy sentimentality is swept away, while the potential grimness this leaves (the statue-Prince gives his jewel-eyes away to relieve the distressed) is sensitively handled.
It's framed by a modern tussle between two initially rival narrators, one arriving goggles-bound by microscooter, the other apparently having flown in to the story-garden where clues as to today's story lie concealed.
Of course, the lesson they learn is that co-operation's best, though it takes some time to change talk of 'my story' to 'our story'. As storytellers, they melt seamlessly into characters, the statue-prince who weeps for human misery and the sacrificial swallow who passes on migration to help carry out the princely benevolence.
A rear-stage townscape and, at times, the hint of hefty traffic noises, link Wilde's world to today. Yet the link useful when Swallow swoops among the urban deprived also emphasises the story area as a place of calm and imaginative expansion.
Recipients of the Prince's benevolence are created as puppets. A sick child rising from a waste-basket's especially effective, but the local musician, unable to finish his tune ('Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star' in case you want to prepare for the singalong opportunity) because of a leaking roof, is well-shown as crammed into a small, manuscript-paper lined case.
Alongside these, there's a supposedly stone Lion topping a gatepost, coming to life with a love of stories and a proposal to star in any of them ('Little Red Riding Lion' isn't a suggestion, but you take the idea). Sleep-dust for 'Sleeping Beauty' soon sees him nodding off, but not without a snatch of Lion Kingery to link with today again.
Sadness at the fate of Swallow, caught in a cold winter, is played down, and there's a lift to the end with a fountain spouting to life. Altogether, a well-judged adaptation neither too cloying nor over-serious for its young audiences.
The Prince: Paul Cunningham
Swallow: Helen McAlpine
Director: Annie Wood
Designer: Karen Tennant
Lighting: Paul Sorley
Music: Dave Trouton
Costume: Alison Brown
Puppets: Alison Monaghan
Lion Puppet: Iain Halket
2002-12-03 12:27:51