THE SLEEPING BEAUTY. To 9 November.
London.
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY
by Gregory Motton
Little Angel Theatre 14 Dagmar Passage N1 2DN To 9 November 2008.
11am & 2pm 29-30 Oct, 1-2, 8-9 Nov.
2pm & 5pm 31 Oct.
10am & 1pm 5-6 Nov.
1pm & 5pm 7 Nov.
Runs 1hr 30min One interval.
TICKETS: 020 7226 1787.
www.littleangeltheatre.com
Review: Timothy Ramsden 26 October.
Very beautiful, and well worth staying awake for.
This Sleeping Beauty is a slice of Little Angel history. And it goes back beyond, for while Gregory Motton’s script comes from the 1990s, the puppets, and some of their costumes, date from before the pioneering Islington theatre’s 1961 origins to co-founder John Wright’s early puppet-making in his home country, South Africa, during the 1940s.
The apparent significance of a Black figure turns out, however, to be merely a case of a dark wood being used without thought for character ethnicity. Similarly, my ears detected little of Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty in the harpsichord score dating from the early Angel days. Yet harpsichord-player David Wright is expertly mixing the ballet’s tunes with the spirit and style of the Baroque, when Charles Perrault formulated the story.
Motton’s story begins at child’s-view level, though it’s the childless, aging Queen and King who sit, apart at either end of a sofa, saying they’re bored; the idea of boredom recurs as a motif preparing for the entire kingdom’s century-long sleep. Yet any sense of the static is kept at bay by the fast-running harpsichord notes. Motton also shows how great consequences arise from details; it’s shortage of crockery that leads to the Wicked Fairy’s non-invite to Briar Rose’s christening.
And he uses the frog-prince idea boldly when a frog impregnates the Queen in her bath. Her pleasure at its arrival, as something superior to the usual rubber duck, is clear. Later, though, the story takes second-place to puppet pantomime equivalents with rustic simplicity, ill-behaved cow and pig, and silly suitors led astray.
The comedy can be more verbose than is helpful with the puppets, though some of it inspires considerable laughter. The puppets, however, are the thing, and they are mightily impressive, and expressive. The set includes an impressionistic forest within which the castle is contained, and the 3-tier tower at one side includes a lift to upper storeys.
Add a spectacular flotilla of flying fairies and this show, performed with the Little Angel’s usual high expertise, has not only historic interest, but the colour, humour and sense of magic to delight its 5+ audiences.
Puppeteers:
Briar Rose/1st Suitor/Bad Fairy/Frog: Sarah Burgess.
Flunky/Wild Man/Tim Bobbin: Roger Lade.
King/2nd Suitor: Mark Whitaker.
Queen/Anne the Maid/Old Woman/Daemon: Sarah Wright.
Director: Christopher Leith.
Designers: John Wright, Lyndie Wright.
Lighting: David Duffy.
Musician: David Wright.
2008-10-27 01:37:46