THE SNOWMAN: till 28 January

Birmingham
THE SNOWMAN: Based on the story by Raymond Briggs
Music and Lyrics: Hoard Blake, Scenario: Howard Blake, Bill Alexander, Robert North
Birmingham Rep: www.birmingham-rep.co.uk: 0121 236 4455
Runs: 2h, one interval, till 28 January
Review: Rod Dungate, 6 January 2007

It had me walking in the air
No two ways about it – from the instantly recognisable opening chords on the piano to the final ensemble flying through the air this show is a complete delight, two hours of exquisite and unfaltering joy. I haven’t seen the Rep’s production of The Snowman since its original birth 14 years ago; memory tends to give us rosy views of things we have enjoyed, not in this case, the production is even more beautiful than I remember it.

For us as adults you start with a charming story from Raymond Briggs, but not for children, I suspect. For young people this is a truly magical journey; and in this magically realised performance, a journey they can easily suspend their disbelief and travel on.

Conversely the translation of Briggs’s story into this dance-play offers young audiences a succession of sophisticated theatrical experiences – the type of experiences that make theatre exciting for us adults - but at their own level. And these are experiences that thrill them and us.

The narrative unfolds slowly, for instance, offering time for thought. But each story element (particularly in the first half) has is own momentum; the cat learns to love the Snowman, the playroom moves gradually from order into chaos and so on. I love, too, the constant jump from the humorous to the heart-rending and back again. There is great attention to detail – watch The Boy look around him in great wonder when he arrives at the North Pole. The show may work at a young person’s level but it never patronises; The Boy plays in the snow at the beginning, but he transforms this into a dance gift for the Snow People in the second half. Quite beautiful.

The Boy (Toby Fulton in the performance I saw) is staggeringly confident. There is nothing naïve in his performance, it is totally honest, direct, accurate, open. He becomes the perfect bridge between us and the play’s world. He is perfectly complemented by Remy Martyn, Snowman, who communicates a wide range of subtle emotions despite the fact it must be done in broad brushstrokes.

This is a strong ensemble company, hard to mention others. But in particular Elisa Rossignoll, Music Box Ballerina and Snow Princess, who performs a beautiful duet with Snowman. Also a dramatic performance from Gianluca Multari, Jack Frost, who injects a lithe masculinity. Danger appears through his tango with Rossignoll, but he is finally danced into submission.

Bill Alexander, one of the country’s foremost interpreters of Shakespeare and other period plays, seems effortlessly to have found the child in himself to direct with such a sure touch. Ruari Murchison’s designs economically form a sensitive background for the story and Robert North’s choreography cleverly and wittily combines childlike fun and adult dance.

(An added note: I talked with Bill Alexander about the production. He offered an interesting thought. ‘Because the show has no dialogue, the young people in the audience can talk to each other about what’s going on, whereas if they were watching, say, something like Wind in the Willows, where there’s dialogue, people would always be telling them to ‘Shhh’. It’s something else that links them directly into the action.’)

Snowman: Remy Martyn
The Boy: Duncan Anderson or Toby Fulton or Jamie MacDonald
Teddy, Penguin: Emily Ayers
Fox, Jolly: Jenna Blease
Squirrel, Chinese Snowman, Reindeer: Kathryn Broadribb
Mum, Scotty, Reindeer: Elizabeth Collier
Snowman: Ramom Diaz
Raquel Gaviria: Cat, Arab Snowman, Reindeer
Jack Frost: Gianluca Multari
Father Christmas: Matthew Graham
Pineapple, Cowboy: Gerrard Martin
Marie-Louise Molbach: Dance Captain, Swing
Rabbit, Snow Princess, Music Box Ballerina: Elisa Rossignoll
Music Box Ballerina, Rabbit, Snow Princess: Nadia Sadiq
Banana, Fred: Antonio Tengroth

Choreographer: Robert North
Director: Bill Alexander
Orchestrations: Howard Blake, David Shenton
Designer: Ruari Murchison
Lighting Designer: Tim Mitchell
Sound Designer: Richard Brooker
Assistants to the Choreographer: Anita Griffin, Sheri Cook
Musical Director: George King
Flying Effects by: Flying by Foy
Walking in the Air sung by Susan Monnox

2007-01-06 16:01:51