Ian Waller and his family enjoy a real treat with an imaginative retelling of a children’s classic
Wow, this is a great year for Christmas theatre across the region. The headline pantomimes in Bath, Bristol and Swindon are all excellent, and now it is the turn of the always innovative and excellent the egg theatre in Bath to put its Christmas show front and centre.
And as ever, the egg excelled. Rapunzel – A Love Story is a wonderfully innovative, clever and thoroughly entertaining piece of theatre, perfectly aimed at children aged 7 to 12 years.
The story starts with our heroine growing up with her loving adoptive mother, learning the ways of a herbalist and living the life of a sweet, innocent young girl. However, once Rapunzel starts to grow into a woman, things take a decidedly dodgy turn when the mother locks her away in a tower to keep her away from prying eyes.
Enter Patrizio, musician and poet, who also happens to the heir to the kingdom. Patrizio and Rapunzel meet, fall in love and that should be it. But no, this is theatreland and absolutely nothing quite runs that smoothly.
What develops is an entertaining and slightly silly piece of theatre that includes magic, music, strange animals, stranger humans, a certain amount of violence (don’t worry, you don’t see a thing!) and a even wild boar that poos magic acorns – now that’s something you don’t see every day!
Throughout this is such a clever production with a hugely talented cast making the most of the small stage – as well as the occasional foray into the audience – to bring the tale to life. Right from the start, the magic of the production is evident, with bushes that come to life, magical beasts and evil spells. I also loved the way that the musicians aren’t only on the stage, but play a part in the narrative, with the cast joining in too and showing their many skills as actors, singers and instrumentalists.
So was it faultless? Sadly not. A monologue on austerity during the first half of play was hugely out of place, while the two hour plus running time was slightly overlong.
However, judging by the response from by my young sons and the school party who shared the auditorium with us, this did little to take away from the appeal of the production. The chances for audience participation were enthusiastically accepted, while the occasional clever ad-lib from the cast were great to see. It was also so funny to see the children’s disgust, accompanied by cries of “urghh!”, when the heroes kissed or, worst still, talked about getting married and having babies!
My family and I have been enjoying trips to the egg for many years now and we’ve never been let down by the quality and creativity of the productions on show. Rapunzel – A Love Story proudly maintains this tradition and I strongly urge a visit.
Rapunzel – A Love Story plays at the egg theatre until 12 January 2020. For more information and to book tickets, click here