"Grimm Tales"

I am tempted to report that this was the stuff of nightmares. But, as this was my first experience of a production by this group (and I would like to be invited again) I should explain.  This is a compilation of eight stories, originally told by the Brothers Grimm and now adapted by former poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy and dramatised by Tim Supple. So why nightmares? Well, some of these tales are darker and a little more scary than in the pantomime versions which have resulted from some of them and with which most of us are more familiar.  On the other hand, the performances by the cast here were extremely enjoyable, confident and not at all likely to cause sleepless nights, even for the Director.

The tales were expertly linked by a narrator (Chris Meadley) who lost no time in warning us that these must not be confused with the sugar-coated tales we might have experienced at the hands of Mr. Disney and others and went on to introduce the various stories with a nice touch of humour.  First on the scene was Snow White complete with the evil queen, her magic mirror and the seven dwarfs, here in the form of shrunken head puppets.  After many near-disasters, the happy ending finally arrives and we moved on to a tale of a golden goose. This rather comical story results in a number of characters becoming stuck to each other, bringing laughter to a princess who had never previously experienced the sensation and another happy ending.  A much lesser known tale, the Mouse, the Bird and the Sausage was done in shadow play, happy endings this time replaced by a much sadder fate for each participant but a clear moral that perhaps we should all stick to our allotted tasks rather than aspiring to those of others.  The first act ended with a much more familiar tale, here called Ashputtel, but better known by us as Cinderella, in which the step sisters (not necessarily ugly here) suffer rather more scary a fate than simple rejection by the Prince, including a little D-I-Y chiropody with even worse to follow. 

A group of four men and four women were chiefly responsible for acting out the stories, Geoff Walker, Graham Smith, Joe Marrucci, Fergus Green, Hannah Wood, Meg Badrick, Annie Dunbar and Abbey Follansbee, the latter evidently specialising in some rather evil characters.  They were assisted by an ensemble of six more members (Henry Cullen, Jess Whitehead, Jess Dawson, Libby Roe, Ella Lofthouse and Britney Brett) who were kept busy throughout the performance and clearly enjoyed their involvement in the action. 

We continued with stories of a Magic Table, problems caused by a Magic Porridge Pot, the Musicians of Bremen and, finally, another familiar tale, that of Hansel and Gretel.  All were well performed by the cast but that latter story, with its gingerbread house, reminds me that I must not omit to mention the stage crew, set designers, construction workers and painter for their hard work in creating such an excellent set.  Forests seem to feature in many of the tales and so there was much timber and foliage on show but also essential was a cabin-type building which turned as to whether an interior or exterior was required, finally becoming the afore-mentioned gingerbread house. I also enjoyed the choice of music which we heard between the stories, setting just the right sort of atmosphere for the whole experience. 

I am pleased to report that, rather than suffering nightmares, I awoke next morning with nothing but happy memories of an enjoyable if rather unusual evening in York, although, recalling two of the tales, I did avoid porridge and sausage at breakfast. So, not at all the stuff of nightmares but, hopefully, the first of several entertaining productions I might enjoy with this company. I understand that their home-made pantomimes are always memorable and I look forward to “Mother Goose” later in the year.     

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