Church Hill Theatre
Four stars
Things run deep in the
1927 company’s new compendium of folk tales, unearthed from the recesses of the
British Library archive and brought to life for Edinburgh International Festival’s
You Are Here strand. After their last EIF adventure with The Magic Flute, 1927 have
gone back to their DIY origins with a mash-up of expressionistically inclined
action performed by writer/director Suzanne Andrade and Esme Appleton, Paul
Barritt’s ingenious animation and a musical score by Lillian Henry expanded to
incorporate all manner of junk shop noises played by David Insua-Cao and
Francesca Simmons. As a bonus, the baker’s dozen of tall tales come with extra
added lip-syncing to narration and occasional characterisation from a plethora
of accents.
This gives more colour
and shade to the stories, which feature a menagerie of little creatures, from
the fattest cat you’re ever likely to see, and a very chic looking beatnik ant
fending off numerous suitors with deadpan subtitled disdain. There are ogres
inhabiting a Wild West scenario, the unluckiest man alive and a
self-aggrandising king with a - to be kind - unreconstructed attitude to women
that should see him tossed off the throne forthwith.
This is all delivered as
what is essentially a living storybook, with Andrade, Appleton and co
transforming themselves with assorted hats and wigs or else simply pressing
their faces to various holes in the wall and letting Barritt’s animation do the
rest. The double-edged sword of the title of this co-production between 1927,
EIF, HOME, Manchester and assorted American and European partners finally comes
home to roost in the final story, a grotesque tale of the unexpected that
trickles into old-school fantasy.
1927 may be getting back
to their own roots, but their imaginative palette has expanded into the realms
if the fantastical, while the full umbilical roots between ancient and modern
forms of folk tale is brought home in the multi-faceted ways of sharing that
suggests the international language of storytelling is more than safe in their
hands.
The Herald, August 11th 2019
Ends
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