Writer: Lewis Hetherington
Directors: Dominic Hill & Joanna Bowman
Once again, the Citizens theatre proves itself to be in a class of its own with this season’s festive family show Beauty and the Beast, the first since its radical makeover and reopening.
Writer Lewis Hetherington has created theatrical magic in sticking largely to the original elements of the 1740s tale but with gloriously modern sensibilities. Belle (Israela Efomi) lives with her widowed, but eternally upbeat father (Tyler Collins), sister Bright (Holly Howden Gilchrist) and loving cat Mr. Mittens (Michael Guest), in a shack in the woods after her father’s fortune disappears when his fleet of ships sink, along with the riches they contain, to the bottom of the ocean.
The merry band bumble along, Beauty encouraged to be nothing more than a “lovely young lady” while her seemingly neuro divergent sister creates inventions, including a magical sound recording machine the Great Resonator. When Beauty’s father hears that one of his ships has been sighted, he sets off to retrieve his riches but without success. On the arduous journey back her finds refuge in the magnificent surroundings of a mysterious castle. He receives warmth and hospitality in return that he only takes what is offered to him. Mindful that Beauty’s only request is that he brings back a rose for her, he steals a ruby red flower from the castle’s garden, he then finds to his cost that the owner of the castle is a giant beast and the price for his deed is high.
As Beauty and her companions try to right her father’s wrongs, they forge friendships and find themselves. The spells of the evil fairy (Elicia Daly) are broken and we learn that even the most seemingly unworthy deserve to be saved.
The magic begins before curtain up as the cast lead a joyful singalong to Deck The Halls, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Jingle Bells, the good natured banter and enthusiastic audience participation sets the tone perfectly.
Rachael Canning’s truly magnificent set design is a character in itself. It is vast in scope and imagination and lends a creepy mystery with its grand ambition – all dark shadows and looming danger. The design of the Beast is a delightful surprise – more Where the Wild Things Are than terrifying creature, it keeps the whole endeavour on the right side of friendly for all ages.
The cast are an utter delight: Tyler Collins is hard to resist as Beauty and Bright’s hapless father Baron Aaron, Israela Efomi delivers a nicely judged performance as Beauty in her professional debut as does Holly Howden Gilchrist as Bright, Elicia Daly is deliciously devilish as the evil fairy and Michael Guest is an enchanting narrator Mr. Mittens.
Where it excels is in its perfectly pitched storytelling. It respects the source material as few other re-tellings of the tale have, but blows the dust off to bring it bang up to date. There’s threat, there’s danger, there are farts, fairies and fun. It is vital and vibrant, funny and scary, full of effervescent energy. This is storytelling at its very best.
Runs until 31 December |Image: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan
