THE TINDERBOX. To 5 January.
London.
THE TINDERBOX
by Jonathan Petherbridge based on the story by Hans Christian Andersen music by Craig Byrne, Gabrielle Douglas and Harry Napier.
The Albany Douglas Way SE8 4AG To 5 January 2008.
Wed-Sat 2pm & 7pm
Runs 1hr 40min One interval.
TICKETS: 020 8692 4446.
www.thealbany.org.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 22 December.
Radical reworking that repays demands it makes.
Don’t expect pantomime from Bubble Theatre these days. They take a story like The Tinderbox seriously – very seriously. Jonathan Petherbridge’s adaptation turns Hans Andersen’s original into a matter of dark and light. It sets its stall early by dismissing the idea of Sophie Russell’s woman being the Witch she’s initially taken for. And the soldier who meets her is deserting from a deadly, illegal war.
If this exchanges an original love story for a political adventure, it’s one largely played out in tunnels and a cramped hotel room. Princess Flora’s Governess plans to extinguish all sources of light other than ones she can market and manipulate: lights that give no visibility.
Swiftly told, the story gains from Petherbridge’s keen wit, picked up by his cast’s wry playing. And from three guardian dogs ranging from cuddly to fierce (though even he can be tamed by dancing). It is, though, the mild Saucerdog who helps in this global struggle, worked out in provincial terms.
This all fits with an overall austerity, that reaches to the stage layout. A long stage thrusts through the Albany auditorium; it’s most colourful area, thanks to Neill Drinkworth’s lighting, is the remote, cave-like area for the three musicians. The story’s matched by the attractive, yet still austere sound to the jointly-composed music.
The other main set-piece is a stairway of old wooden chairs, which it’s to be hoped are less perilous than they appear. Their exact significance is unclear (though chairs hanging in unusual positions are so common on stage these days, so perhaps a reason’s not required), though they create a sense of the vertical that links to the descent to find the concealed tinderbox.
There are moments when it feels audiences have been lured by a title, and the time of year, to a political parable. And times that parable demands a sophistication asking a lot of the advertised 6+ age-range’s awareness.
But perhaps it can be followed without the political overtones. And another kind of sophistication – in staging, verbal wit and quick economy of acting - mark this out as a distinctive company offering.
Dog Three/Servant/Peasant/Timms/Hangman: Craig Byrne.
Princess Flora: Gabrielle Douglas.
Palace Servant: Chris Goulding.
Tom: Ashley J.
Governess/Dof Two: Rose-Marie Lewis.
King Rufus/Servant/Peasant: Harry Napier.
Teacher/Kate: Sophie Russell.
Saucerdog/Innkeeper: Glenn Tillin.
Director: Jonathan Petherbridge.
Designer/Costume: Pip Nash.
Lighting: Neill Drinkworth.
Movement: Linda Dobell.
2007-12-28 10:40:27