Quote Of The Day

"Victory goes to the player who makes the next-to-last mistake - Chessmaster Savielly Grigorievitch Tartakower (1887-1956)"

Monday, October 21, 2013

The Light Princess...

On Friday night Stuart and I went to see The Light Princess which is currently playing at the Lyttelton Theatre, part of the National Theatre, on London's glitzy South Bank.

Based on the Scottish legend about a princess cursed to defy gravity after not being able to shed a tear at her mother's death the piece child-friendly musical with lyrics and a score written by beautifully wacky songstress Tori Amos.

For this new work director Marianne Elliott brings the same wow factor as she did to her productions of War Horse and The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-time. The production is simply enchanting. It flies as high, as lightly and as deftly as it's leading lady Princess Althea does above the stage.

This regal flight of fancy is mainly acheived thanks to the amazing onstage support actors who lift her, suspend her and transport our heroine above the stage floor. They let her float, fly and spin as she sings.

The production looks gorgeous too. Rae Smith's magical fairy-tale kingdom is inhabited with wonderful animals and strange delights - it's Muppets meeting Handspring puppets.

Althea's beau prince Digby is much more grounded in every sense which only heightens our feeling of elation she teases him from above.

The whole thing is a joy to behold and a definite recommendation. Shame the songs don't quite match up to the visuals though.

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