THE MAGIC TOYSHOP, Carter adapt Lavery, Soho Theatre, till 9th February

THE MAGIC TOYSHOP: Novel, Angela Carter, Adapt, Bryony Lavery
Soho Theatre, Tkts 020 7478 0101
Runs: 2h 20m, one interval, till 9 February 2002
Review: Vera Lustig, 26 January 2002

Shared Experience at the top of their considerable form. This adaptation of Carter's award-winning 1969 novel stands on its own as a discrete piece of theatrical story-telling, while remaining true to the spirit of the original
TOYSHOP is ideal Shared Experience material. It interweaves the classic loss-of-innocence narrative with that of children wrenched away from their idyll to a brutalised existence.

Ironically, the eponymous shop, which should be a place of childish delight, is the hell to which the orphaned 15 year-old Melanie and her younger siblings are consigned. This barbaric place is dominated by ogre-ish Uncle Philip. His submissive Irish wife Margaret hasbeen mute since their wedding night; her relationship with her brother, Francie, is more than fraternal. Their younger brother, Finn, is a disquieting presence, both repellent and seductive.

Carter's novel is crammed with detail: Melanie's childhood home with its apple tree; the puppets and automata in the shop; a hidden garden in Crystal Palace, strewn with broken statuary. The set, meanwhile, is skeletal: a swing, a stylised tree, a couple of raised platforms.

In true Shared Experience style the performers people the stage, 'becoming' the toys, conjuring up the bounding, nuzzling dog.

Most memorable of all is Margaret and Francie's soundless music-making: they perform a rapt dance, she holding a flute aloft, he a fiddle. Penny Layden is perfectly cast as Margaret, answering to Carter's description: 'frail as a pressed flower' but unfortunately, even in this moment of communion, she retains her habitual terrified expression. The one weakness of this production is that the development of plot and character is sometimes a little blurred. That said, Hannah Watkins, a tad cute in the opening moments, matures superbly with the role; and Harriette Ashcroft convinces totally as her hyperactive, retarded kid sister.

Above all, this production reminds us of what an enchanting and perceptive novelist we lost ten years ago this month.

Cast:
Victoria: Harriette Ashcroft
Jonathon: Dominic Hecht
Francie/ Mrs Rundle: Stephen Hogan
Margaret: Penny Layden
Uncle Philip: Vincenzo Nicoli
Finn: Damian O'Hare
Melanie: Hannah Watkins

Director: Rebecca Gatward
Design: Liz Cooke
Composer: Gary Yershon
Lighting: Jonathan Clarke
Sound: Gary Giles

2002-02-06 19:38:04