Rapunzel or The Magic Pig

Bloodthirsty villains, an idealistic prince, a feisty heroine and a very magical pig!
Mirror Tent at BMW, Fri November 26th 2010 - Sat January 15th 2011

December 3, 2010
This looks like being another triumph for Creation – a delightful, beautifully adapted, gorgeously performed show in a spectacular venue accompanied by delicious crêpes and yummy drinks. I looked around at the faces of the audience last night and all I could see was people relaxed, smiling, enjoying themselves – it’s an all-round good experience. Not even the bitter freezing winds that have swept into Oxford with barely an interruption all the way from the frozen wastes of Siberia could dent the atmosphere inside the famous Mirror Tent – for a tent or indeed for a living room, it is indeed very snug and warm, and if you’re still not snug enough they give you fluffy blankets to wrap yourself in. This tent is very Christmassy in appearance – a multi-coloured, highly decorated, fairy-lit, fabric-swathed extravaganza of a tent, in which you the viewer will be sitting either on red plush sofas (row C, round the outside and furthest from the stage), or on chairs, around little tables, cabaret-style. It used to be the case that those in row A (right next to the stage) could count on getting wet at some point in the performance, but the director has ironed out this inequality and this year, with the actors moving among the audience a fair bit, anyone in any row could be sprinkled (but only lightly, don’t worry!).

What of the performance itself? Well, this is a reasonably seamless mingling of at least three folk tales, with the full earthiness, violence and grief that a Brothers Grimm tale ought to have. It’s not a pantomime, though it retains some conventions of the medieval popular theatre. In some parts it is even more violent than the Grimm original, for here Mother Gothel gets unpleasantly violent with the Prince, whereas in the tale his misfortune occurs by accident. Creation are adept at making violence seem at once horrifying and distant – this grisly scene is performed in mime only, and is understood by the audience as a symbol. Similarly, the audience accepts right from the first scene the way in which the performers use props and puppets to figure characters and events without trying to hide or diminish their own presence on the stage – thus two performers manipulate the beautiful puppet that represents the child Rapunzel, and three manipulate the various parts of the giant Magic Pig (actually a magic boar). Rapunzel’s encounters with the magic boar are beautifully and hilariously done; children of all ages will appreciate the way Rapunzel comes by her three golden acorns. All the performers make full use of the circular stage, with its many trap doors and hidey holes, and the production is wonderfully creative at making something out of virtually nothing in the way of scenery – just some sticks, a few cuddly bunnies and a chair can become a forest or a palace in moments.

Amy Noble was a beautiful, spirited Rapunzel, and Martin Richardson a handsome and very athletic Prince Patrizio; the other performers – Rob Cavazos as the baddy Prince Paulo, James Sobol Kelly as their father the Duke, Nicholas Osmond as Mother Gothel, Richard Kidd as Pierluigi and Rachel Donovan as Prezzemolina – were all superb, and their ensemble spirit and commitment just really exciting and enjoyable. A really great night out, and thoroughly recommended.
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