What an incredibly charming and beautiful performance of Little Red Riding Hood, a classic fairy-tale which has been adapted in the most enchanting way. The intimacy of the Sir John Mills Theatre allows this play to feel immersive and a privilege to have seen these fantastic actors so close.
Little Red has made a pie for Grandma and wants to go and give it to her. However, Grandma lives the other side of the dark wood. Mum doesn’t want Little Red to go as the dark wood is dangerous and scary. She eventually agrees as Little Red promises to keep on the path and go straight to Grandma’s house. Unfortunately, the dark wood is full of mysterious sounds and devious animals and Little Red is distracted off the path and she gets lost, having a few scary adventures on the way.
There are a couple of cute scenes where Little Red chats to the sheep and cows, although the sheep and cows do a lot of baaaing and mooing, which is funny. When she is lost in the woods there is a nod to other panto characters who are also looking for something,
We are introduced to Mr Wolfie as he comes on with top hat and tails and singing a dark bluesy number with his banjo, singing about when hunger is banging from the inside. Mr Wolfie has an air about him, he’s a baddie. He is a very good baddie.
The cast of four have their main characters to perform, however they also double up as the singling ensemble, stage hands, and other smaller parts, which they do with ease. This gives the play even more charm as we see these actors transform effortlessly. The cast are exceptionally talented actors, each one completely mesmerising. As stage hands moving the set pieces were part of the performance, the transition from the dark wood to Grandma’s cottage was done with elements of comedy and it was a scene in itself which we enjoyed.
The set was exceptionally creative and yet so simple. The crumb floor was used to carve out the path on which Little Red needed to stay on, yet is was easily moved. There were several trees which were moved about portraying Little Red’s journey through the forest and this gave the impression of movement in a vast space, even though they were performing on a very small stage area.
This is definitely not a traditional panto where we were shouting ‘he’s behind you’, however there was audience participation, not only the smiles as the actors looked at you directly in the eyes due to the intimacy of the setting, there were some oohs and aahs and we did have to practice our wolf howls. This panto is an enchanting story-telling performance which included incredible original songs, humour, and wonderful acting.
This is a highly-recommended show as it was an immersive, delightful and brilliant performance. I truly loved it.
Cast
Harvey Robinson – Mr Wolfie
Brontë Tadman – Grandma
Anoush Kendrik – Mum
Fatima Jawara – Little Red
Little Red is playing until 7th January at Sir John Milles Theatre They are also having a BSL interpreted performance and live streams, check the website for more information click here.
This review appeared on GrapevineLIVE