If the little ones are not yet big enough to sit through this year’s panto blockbusters, this nifty hour-long performance may be just the thing. Award-winning writer and director Mike Kenny conjures up an enchanting take on an old classic.
Bridget and Stephen are on a sleepover at their grandmother’s house. But the thought of Granny’s donuts in the kitchen is keeping them awake. So Bridget decides to tell her younger brother the tale of Red Riding Hood to pass the time. Soon they are acting out the characters, aided by the dressing up chest and a few battered old toys. The line between what is real and what is imagination starts to blur. The two children find themselves deep in the dark wood, with a ravenous wolf on their scent.
This production hits the note perfectly. The audience of small children seemed spellbound throughout. Even the eleven-year-old keeping this reviewer company was chortling at the jokes. Two actors, Sam Wells and Nicola Blake, play all the roles and both do a smashing job of regressing to childhood. They bring Stephen and Bridget to life, without any hint of the adult knowingness we often see in modern pantomime. Indeed the entire play rang with a childlike innocence.
The songs are catchy with an instant hum-along quality, so full marks to musical director Julian Butler. There were even a few dance routines, nimbly performed by Sam and Nicola. The set was evocative while economical, and the lighting conjured up a sense of the mysterious and forbidding forest.
Don’t worry about getting there too early. Outside the auditorium is an installation by Hayden Primary School, where youngsters can go on their own imaginative journey into the wood and Grandma’s house, complete with red riding cloaks.
Red Riding Hood runs at the Lakeside Arts Centre until Saturday 31 December 2011
Read comments and make your own
Comments