Tuesday 13 December 2016

Scottish Ballet: Hansel & Gretel

Scottish Ballet: Hansel & Gretel

Review by Stephanie Green | 13 Dec 2016
Published by The Skinny magazine.

Magic, humour, a frisson of scariness, a celebration of food and a happy ending: Hansel & Gretel, choreographed by Christopher Hampson, is perfect for a Christmas family outing

This revival of Hampson’s 2013 production, using music from Engelbert Humperdinck’s opera plus other pieces, grew from outreach sessions exploring what really matters to children: loving parents, and food. There’s no wicked step-mother, the witch is not too terrifying, and, charmingly, local children appear on stage.
On stage, a fridge – empty except for beer – and a TV dominate, alongside an ironic ‘Home Sweet Home’ sign. The boozy father (Evan Loudon)’s staggering dance with his cronies, and clowning about with cigarette-smoking mother (Marge Hendrick), are humourously done. Later on, in the children’s dream, she is an Audrey Hepburn and he's in black-tie; still smoking and drinking, albeit more classily. The dance of the rebellious Hansel (Andrew Peasgood) and his bossy elder sister, Gretel (Bethany Kingsley-Garner) is convincingly childlike, hungry but playful. Unlike in the Grimm original, their sortie is an adventure.

And here the scary magic begins: Araminta Wraith's Witch, whom we first see as a teacher, is glimpsed as a glamour puss surrounded by rockers. Transformed into a moon fairy, her cloak streaming, she is held aloft by her now-feathery henchmen, hints that her beauty is drawn from her evil suggested by jagged hand-shapes.
Act One in the forest drags a little, despite an atmospheric set. It’s saved by the ravens, their leaps a highlight, as well as a banquet dream sequence with plenty of colourfully-costumed waiters, waitresses, chefs, and cute strawberry tarts. The Sandman (Christopher Harrison), reminiscent of Johnny Depp, is fatally alluring and in Act Two, Dewdrop tutu-clad ballerinas perform a classical routine to please balletomanes.
The pièce de resistance comes, of course, when the fairy takes off her wig, revealing a scabby hunchback witch, her hobbling both scary and humourous. A shame then that there’s a dramatic faux pas: the shocking beheading of the teddy followed by an anodyne scene of floppy toys which cancels out the impact. But hooray, it’s the teddy-hugging Hansel who pushes the witch into the oven.

Hansel & Gretel by Scottish Ballet 
Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Sat 10 - Sat 31 Dec, various times, £14.50-£43.50 (plus concs); £11 stand-by tickets for Under 26s. For details of audio-described performances, Wee Hansel & Gretel, pre-show talks, and family insights, click here. Also touring to Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness in January 2017.
https://www.scottishballet.co.uk/event/hansel-gretel

Monday 5 December 2016

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland




Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Review

Stephanie Green | 05 Dec 2016
Published in The Skinny.
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A treat. What better way to celebrate the festive season than this rambunctious, zany version of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland written and directed by Anthony Neilson plus songs by Nick Powell, puppets and spell-binding special effects. With all the topsy-turvy logic, the vivid colours of a dream, it gets curiouser and curiouser.
Birdsong, fairground lights and music introduce a golden Edwardian summer and picnickers as a boat comes gliding by and we’re in Alice’s world. There’s all the well-known riddles, word play, puns, philosophical and logical conundrums adults remember but made hugely enjoyable for children too: plenty of slapstick, spiralling into sheer silliness – just what the seven year olds in the audience adore. Particularly hilarious are the distinctive walks of animal characters, notably the White Rabbit’s shimmy.
Staying close to Carroll’s original, there are some inspired changes: The Rev Dodgson (Carroll’s real name), not Alice’s sister, sends her to sleep and the trial, not about stolen tarts, but a Mock Turtle soup recipe. A large sun, also a screen, shows great animations: Alice’s descent down the rabbit hole, and the Cheshire Cat’s floating grin. Alice’s changing size is wonderfully done (but no spoilers here).
The costumes are stunning, in particular the Gryphon’s layered feathers and the striped, furry caterpillar. Enormous hats are a feature, the Duchess’s very like Tenniel – but also tricorne hats with googly, shiny eyes attached for the frog and fish footmen. 
The most well-loved characters are here: the engaging Mad Hatter (Tam Dean Burn) beside himself with his unanswerable riddle, and the March Hare’s toothiness, the Duchess (Alan Francis) a Pantomime Dame, and Duchess’s Cook performed with wicked glee by Gabriel Quigley. Watch out for the flying plates. The caterpillar (Zoë Hunter) whose infuriatingly changeable opinions are delivered with superb timing. The Gryphon, or Gryff, a Welshman of course, played by David Carlyle, shouts out Tourette’s style. Isobel McArthur’s sobbing Mock Turtle is glorious and Alice, the debut stage performance for Jess Peet, is self-assured, well able to stand up to the nonsense around her. Great ensemble acting gets hysterical, higher and higher as the performance goes on. A terrific show.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Edinburgh Lyceum, until 31 Dec

Published in the Skinny Magazine online.