December 3, 2008
The Little Match Girl, The Emperor's New Clothes, The Princess and the Pea, The Little Mermaid, The Snow Queen, The Tinder Box - and many more!
The fabulous Mirror Tent, once again, is the lynchpin for the setting of Creation Theatre Company’s seasonal show. The magic starts as soon as one enters the green and red draped cavern with its twinkling mirrors, chains of fairy lights, mobiles of dancing red snowflakes creating shadows on the tent’s dome and even the simple tea lights on the tables. The large drum-like stage in the centre of the tent is the focus for the performance, with audience members sitting on their almost satellite-like circular tables around the tent not more than a few metres from the action. An added bonus is the catering – crepes, hot chocolate and mulled wine can be ordered for the interval.
The production opens with an old man and a little girl lost in the woods. A shadow quickly appears and as he walks around the stage, multiple shadows move around the tent walls – a cleverly simple lighting technique. A testimony to the British public, the first laugh of the evening is the magical appearance of a cup of tea!
The writer, Lizzie Hopley, weaves the script from eleven of Hans Christian Andersen’s tales, some of which are better known than others. The cast of six actors, (Jonathan Baker, Jordan Bernarde, Sophie Duval. Lowrie Gwynne, Adam Henderson-Scott and Olivia Mace), under the direction of Caroline Leslie, achieve the gargantuan task of seamlessly moving from one character to another. Their energy and ability to draw in the audience cannot be faulted. They are bolstered by a supplementary cast of puppets in the shape of mermaids, a princess and Thumbelina. The costume changes are effected by the addition of cloaks, boas, bowler hats, briefcases, etc, over base costumes of coloured pyjamas. The scenes are enhanced by imaginative use of light (green with real bubbles for the under-water scene), flowers, characters and an umbrella tree popping up from the trapdoors on the stage. The trapdoors can also throw up or swallow agile actors at crucial moments.
Though not a laugh-a-minute show, it is always engaging and enthralling. The memorable laughs of the evening are generated by the well-timed slapstick antics of Big Claus and Little Claus, reference to angry turkeys in The Ugly Duckling, Little Emily’s cry of “I can see his bum!” to the horror of the spindoctors in the Emperor’s New Clothes, and the wonderfully chavvy, hoodie Crow in the Snow Queen. Some other jokes about plumbers are aimed at the more ‘mature’ members of the audience but work on both levels.
The outwardly entertaining stories are backdrops to a bigger under story: that truth, love and honesty are ultimately more important than selfishness, showmanship and ‘empty meaningless words’. To quote one of the closing lines of the play ‘To be forever separated is to be forever lost’. Though not intended as a plug for the company, this reminded this reviewer how lucky we are to have Creation Theatre Company in Oxford. Let’s keep supporting them – we definitely don’t want to lose them.
The fabulous Mirror Tent, once again, is the lynchpin for the setting of Creation Theatre Company’s seasonal show. The magic starts as soon as one enters the green and red draped cavern with its twinkling mirrors, chains of fairy lights, mobiles of dancing red snowflakes creating shadows on the tent’s dome and even the simple tea lights on the tables. The large drum-like stage in the centre of the tent is the focus for the performance, with audience members sitting on their almost satellite-like circular tables around the tent not more than a few metres from the action. An added bonus is the catering – crepes, hot chocolate and mulled wine can be ordered for the interval.
The production opens with an old man and a little girl lost in the woods. A shadow quickly appears and as he walks around the stage, multiple shadows move around the tent walls – a cleverly simple lighting technique. A testimony to the British public, the first laugh of the evening is the magical appearance of a cup of tea!
The writer, Lizzie Hopley, weaves the script from eleven of Hans Christian Andersen’s tales, some of which are better known than others. The cast of six actors, (Jonathan Baker, Jordan Bernarde, Sophie Duval. Lowrie Gwynne, Adam Henderson-Scott and Olivia Mace), under the direction of Caroline Leslie, achieve the gargantuan task of seamlessly moving from one character to another. Their energy and ability to draw in the audience cannot be faulted. They are bolstered by a supplementary cast of puppets in the shape of mermaids, a princess and Thumbelina. The costume changes are effected by the addition of cloaks, boas, bowler hats, briefcases, etc, over base costumes of coloured pyjamas. The scenes are enhanced by imaginative use of light (green with real bubbles for the under-water scene), flowers, characters and an umbrella tree popping up from the trapdoors on the stage. The trapdoors can also throw up or swallow agile actors at crucial moments.
Though not a laugh-a-minute show, it is always engaging and enthralling. The memorable laughs of the evening are generated by the well-timed slapstick antics of Big Claus and Little Claus, reference to angry turkeys in The Ugly Duckling, Little Emily’s cry of “I can see his bum!” to the horror of the spindoctors in the Emperor’s New Clothes, and the wonderfully chavvy, hoodie Crow in the Snow Queen. Some other jokes about plumbers are aimed at the more ‘mature’ members of the audience but work on both levels.
The outwardly entertaining stories are backdrops to a bigger under story: that truth, love and honesty are ultimately more important than selfishness, showmanship and ‘empty meaningless words’. To quote one of the closing lines of the play ‘To be forever separated is to be forever lost’. Though not intended as a plug for the company, this reminded this reviewer how lucky we are to have Creation Theatre Company in Oxford. Let’s keep supporting them – we definitely don’t want to lose them.