Years Seven and Eight Summer Production 2009

Hairs and Graces

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I‘ll begin. Once upon a time an audience arrived at a theatre in anticipation of a simple show of well known stories; in expectation of an easy skip into the woods; in the idle hope of bumping into the usual cast of familiar characters and well loved fairy tales. But we took our seats and the lights went down and we found ourselves being led much deeper into the forest, to somewhere altogether darker and much more mysterious.

“…and here’s a marvellous

Convenient place for our rehearsal.”

These words from A Midsummer Night’s Dream set the scene for a highly complex interweaving of stories and theatrical styles and we were to keep meeting Shakespeare along our merry way. Layer upon layer of cultural references and dramatic ingredients were thrown into the cauldron to create Hairs and Graces: storytelling, a play within a play, puppetry, pantomime, chorus work, physical theatre, dance, stage combat, magic, Shakespeare, there were more… we were treated to a buffet of theatrical delights. The audience however were not left with a confusing mix, rather, the confidence with which all these elements were performed allowed the various stories to dance around us, to whisper in our ear and to beckon us to the next place.

The innovative diamond traverse staging was a great use of the space allowing for all possible configurations for the different stories, and variable settings which also converged at times, and while this staging can lead to difficulty for performers as well as problems with sight lines this was never encountered. I was impressed with the way all the cast skilfully connected with the audience; communicating their lines to all sides and always projecting their voices effectively to be heard wherever they stood on stage. The directors were also able to use the length of the stage area to convey relationships between characters, most effectively at work when Cinderella entered the ballroom from one end whilst a sea of onlookers stood at the other end of the stage, their faces aghast; the distance between these two tableaux brilliantly heightening the drama of her entrance and adding humour to the scenario! And if you can stretch the space lengthways well you may as well go upwards too! The use of a winch to lift up the distraught Rapunzel creating the impression of a very tall tower in which to imprison her was impressive but at the same time, whilst the very mechanics of these devices can readily take away from the magic of theatre, it actually added to sense of her incarceration due to the restraining aspect of the harness itself.

Here is a cast who clearly know how to build convincing characters; we saw some excellent use of physicality and of expression to convey emotion as well as some quite accomplished use of accents. The really clear storytelling from narrators who obviously valued the importance of their roles in the narrative as a whole was compelling, and all this from a company who were playing multiple roles - I can only imagine the frantic work going on backstage changing costumes and props in order to achieve such seamless scene changes.

In fact the attention to detail paid to the overall design and the gathering of props and costume was plain; how lovely to smell the real lavender and herbs in Old Mother Gothel‘s garden, adding a sensual dimension to the show. Those fantastic fluttering birds on wires giving a nod to the National Theatre’s production War Horse were a lovely touch adding an ethereal quality to the already graceful ensemble of birds, but contrast this with the simplicity of putting sticks onto the head to represent a stag and you can see why this was such a successful production on so many levels.

That the production did not shrink away from the more gory aspects of the Grimms’ tales was a brave choice for the company who brought to life the grisly scenes of slicing off bits of feet and putting out of eyes - here we catch a brief glimpse of King Lear in Prince Jerome’s bloody eyed staggering across the stage- with genuine sensitivity to the material allowing the horror of it to speak for itself without attempting to soften it with comedy or melodrama; a quick change of pace and a new energy transforms the mood and the audience are whisked away to the next scenario and sometimes even invited into the action on stage.

This was an intelligent piece, a highly entertaining show, and truly a celebration of theatre; even the curtain call was more like a fiesta to which we were all invited….and it really did feel as if they might all live happily ever after.

Sam Butler, Artistic Director of Fevered Sleep Theatre Company