|
Theatre listings >
Theatre Index >>
The Happy Prince
- Scottish Company.
Part of the 2003 Bank Of Scotland Children's International Theatre Festival.
Adapter and Director - Annie Wood (Director of Polka
Theatre in London) from the Oscar Wilde story of the same name.
Assistant Director - Mari Binnie.
Designer - Karen Tennant.
Costume Designer - Alison Brown.
Lighting Designer - Paul Sorley.
Composer - Dave Trouton.
Puppets - Alison Monaghan.
Lion Puppet - Iain Halket.
Company - macRobert Productions.
Cast - here.
Company - macRobert.
Seen to review at Tuesday 27 May at Traverse Theatre Edinburgh.
Run Time - 50 mins.
Suggested Age - - years.
Reviewer - Kim Bradie.
Beauty, insight and humour.
The MacRobert team presents us with a fantastic new version of this beautiful
children's tale. Paul Cunningham and Sinead Rushe arrive
on stage as rival storytellers, searching for clues to their next story.
In a unused public park a large stone fountain and wooden bench are set
in front of the park gates and trees and this is where the performers
begin to find what they need to create their story.
A golden cape adorned with crisp packets is pulled out of the park rubbish
bin which Cunningham wears along with a leafy crown and a golden
sword to become the prince. Rushe finds a dark velvet jacket with
tails and is transformed into the swallow. Both actors slip in and out
of many different characters during the production, the most notable being
the recipients of the prince's jewels as he tries to help those in need
in order to make himself happy.
These three characters are portrayed by almost doll-like puppets, given
life by Rushe and Cunningham's voices and gentle movement,
are a wonderful addition to this production. The little match girl in
particular evoked much sympathy amongst the audience, so much so that
during her powerful soliloquy about not having any pennies to buy herself
some food my almost three year old stood up to shout "I'll give you
a penny".
When asked to list his favourite parts of the show my son immediately
replied "The dressing up" (by this he means the use of props
and pieces of costume to create the fantastic array of characters) and
"The gold from the roof" (as the prince gives away the gold
from his cloak we are showered by gold paper from above - a lovely touch
causes much scrambling). The classic tale is retold with beauty and insight,
containing powerful morals that may well be grasped by P1's and P2's.
Under fives will enjoy the song, humour and Rushe and Cunningham's
motivated and enthusiastic performances.
© Kim Bradie 27 May 2003. - Published on EdinburghGuide.com
More
info and reviews on the annual Bank of Scotland Children's International
Theatre Festival.
2003
Cast - Paul Cunningham and Sinead Rushe.
EdinburghGuide Review
of the original performances of Macrobert's The Happy Prince with Helen
McAlpine.
Theatre Editor, Thelma Good's e-mail is
thelma@edinburghguide.com
Although every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the
information presented in these pages, no responsibility can be accepted
for any errors or omissions.
Theatre
listings >
Theatre
Index >>
| 
