THE PRINCESS AND THE GOBLIN. To 29 December.
Edinburgh
THE PRINCESS AND THE GOBLIN
by Stuart Paterson
Royal Lyceum Theatre To 29 December 2003
4-6;11-13;18-20;22-24;26-27;29 December variously 1.30pm, 2.30pm, 5.30pm, 7pm plus school performances
Audio-described 11 December 7pm, 13 December 2.30pm
Touch Tour 13 December 12.30pm
BSL Signed 4 December 7pm
Runs 2hr 5min One interval
TICKETS: 0131 248 4848
Review: Timothy Ramsden 29 November
Fast-paced, beautifully visual production with a definite accent on the comic.This is one of Stuart Paterson's finest Christmas plays, part based on George MacDonald's 19th century story, part new invention. It includes the usual Paterson themes in a fast, audience-friendly action that sees the world from a young person's viewpoint. The Lyceum has given a better-balanced account in the past, but this remains top league if not quite top notch.
For one thing, with Newcastle-upon-Tyne's Northern Stage Ensemble (previously a Paterson regular) inexplicably not mounting a main-stage Christmas show this year, Newcastle-based Neil Murray has been available to provide a superb, colourful design, a picture-book land part lunar-like rocky landscape, part medieval castle, part-underground maze.
And many Lyceum regulars inhabit this wonder world. Eileen McCallum brings a serene blessedness (splendidly robed in silvery dress) as the voice of ancestral female wisdom also suggesting the magic of moonlight.
Clare Yuille's Irene, if occasionally tending to declaim speeches, does so in a convincing childlike way. And she often makes clear the growing Irene's restlessness with adult-imposed confinement. For her, the wonder of the world outside the palace walls is a matter of air and starlight (splendidly caught by Murray)
It's a contrast to the dark, twisted world of the Goblins in their harsh, confined underground maze. This, like the mountainous terrain above, is dangerous ground, but Irene is not helped grow up motherless by her cold-hearted disciplinarian Nurse or her bold-seeming but unconsidering father.
How different are the loving parents of her friend, the miner Curdie Peterson, who wards off Goblins with the rhymes they hate. Though his opening song could be stronger, Andrew Clark is a splendidly confident figure, socially unconsidered near the palace but strong, joyful and reliable.
Yuille's good too on fear - no-one says growing-up's easy, least of all Paterson. Just that it's necessary. And the Goblins - whose statues sit lurking in stone atop the Palace gates - are the agents of evil, fearing only the - somewhat under-played - witch Banshee.
This underground royal trio who seek to capture Irene and tease her to despair and the tears they wish to collect but which she resolutely refuses to shed, are bulge-belly grotesques, comic as well as fearful. Director Tony Cownie's gift for comic detail comes through in their performances, but the terror's diluted.
Partly, this comes from a praiseworthy reticence on the amplification. Previously, at Lyceum Christmasses, voices and music have pounded at us across the proscenium and through the loudspeakers. This year, the music is more tactful underscoring, and ther voices more natural - even if the contest with moments of mass audience response mean a few lines being lost.
It's not only a contest of volume. Young audiences need to shout their 'Oh no, you're not's back at the Goblins, but the characters risk being so comic here they're not far from the matey dragon Fannon whom Irene befriends with her kindness. Contests of verbals with the audience even begin to seem overdone, as the trio back away from the waves of responding noise time and again. Room for more grit down below.
That apart, this is a strong, rewarding production. Whatever the imperfection of detail, don't be fooled. This must be among the finest Christmas productions in British theatre and is well worth a visit from far and wide.
Princess Irene: Clare Yuille
Nurse Lootie/Banshee: Janette Foggo
Crown Prince Krankl: Alec Westwood
King Cob/Father: Malcolm Shields
Queen Mam/Mother: Shonagh Price
King Papa/Fannon: Robert Read
Great Grandmother: Eileen McCallum
Sly: Michelle Rodley
Curdie: Andrew Clark
Captain of Guard: Doug Russell
Palace Guard: Michael Argyle
Director: Tony Cownie
Designer: Neil Murray
Lighting: Jeanine Davies
Composer: Alan Penman
Musical Director: Jenni Winter
Movement: Malcolm Shields
Assistant director: Kate Nelson
2003-11-30 19:00:12