A prince who needs to marry pronto or the kingdom will crumble and a mermaid who saves from drowning and falls in love with said prince and naively sacrifices her voice and fins in order to meet and marry him – it must be Christmas. Not the most promising material for a stage play – lots of the story being set under the sea – or at least you might think. However this is a story by and for those with imagination. Put your pen away Mr Grumpy, this is for the young at heart who believe in the power of love.
The Hans Christian Andersen tale of illicit love and sacrifice is brought up to date in this rich production by director, Simon Godwin and adaptor Joel Horwood. Traditionalists needn’t worry, it’s all done without damage to the original: the odd line, ‘I love plastic’, said of a necklace of human detritus or the giggly mermaid sisters who happily connected with the young(er) members of the audience on press night.
Performances are faultless throughout the nine strong cast – all quick-change artists – who manage to populate both the undersea world and the world of ‘hoo-mons’ with apparent ease. One neat trick is to make the characters into narrators where the story needs to move along without halting the on-stage action.
DJ Walde and Shlomo’s songs move the action along giving insight into the characters’ emotions where needed. In this they are served well by the voices of the central characters and the imaginative use of the small, on-stage band. The Old Vic isn’t a huge theatre and I thought it unnecessary to have the cast miked up for the songs as it took something from the natural timbre of the voices.
A lot of care has gone into getting the movement right for the undersea characters. Katie Moore’s charming Little Mermaid is perfect for suggesting the motion of the undersea in her graceful flowing movement. The company has decided to just go for it when it comes to portraying swimming under water and they suggest just enough to engage the audience’s imaginations. It works and makes for great theatre particularly for those small folk who may be visiting a live show for the first time.
Capturing the Mermaid’s heart (and vice versa) is the spiffingly earnest Prince Will, given the blue-blooded heart-throb treatment by Billy Howle. Just the sort of non-snooty prince you’d want your daughter to marry. The two are clearly a match, but being a dark fairy-tale there is, as you’d expect, a spanner in the workings of the course of true love. This comes in the form of the Sea Witch, played with much relish by Beverly Rudd who delivers a boo-tiful baddie, perfect for exercising young lungs.
The costumes are colourful and effective and Jon Bausor’s (well lit) set does great service in bringing the writer and director’s vision to the stage. The storm scene in particular is served well by the set and if you want to know how to make a mermaid apparently swim up to the surface of the sea… well then you’ll just have to go and see the show for yourself. If you’ve got a small person in the house you’ll have the perfect excuse and if they’ve never seen a live show before they’ll have the perfect introduction. ★★★★☆ Graham Wyles
Photos by Simon Annand
