The Old Vic rounds off its 250th year with a magical retelling of Hans Christian Anderson’s tale, which director Lee Lyford describes as an epic emotional journey as well as a physical one. Gerda’s quest to save her childhood friend Kai has contemporary resonances with other leading female roles such as Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games, or Hermione Granger in Harry Potter.
As is to be expected from the Bristol Old Vic, there has been much loving attention devoted to the detail in this production. From the ghostly and scary mechanical form of the Snow Queen herself, highly imaginative stage and costume design and puppetry – right down to the special pull-out section for children in the programme, which includes a recipe for Memory Wipe Muffins, this was a rich seasonal treat for all ages.
Writer Vivienne Franzmann’s adaptation retains many aspects and characters from Anderson’s original. As the Flower Witch, Miltos Yerolemou, of Game of Thrones, Star Wars and Wolf Hall fame, almost stole the night in a wonderfully narcissistic and flamboyant depiction, while the effervescent Joanna Holden added new dimensions to the drama as the very wicked Boffin Goblin, sniffing out new children, including those in the front row of the stalls, for the dreadful queen to devour. Later, within the queen’s dastardly laboratory we are not spared the sight of those unlucky enough to be entombed within blocks of ice enduring their terrible fates – one of many excellent sets by Tom Rogers. In another cameo, Dylan Wood, bedecked with antlers as Anton the Reindeer, brought the house down with his Morrissey-like vocals while playing a Fender Strat guitar.
Rogers’ vision for this show is certainly another reason to buy a ticket. A giant circular iris looks down on the giant blooms of the yellow rose village. This great disc will morph into the moon and later a redemptive sun as Gerda progresses with her search for Kai. Stage structures echo the shape of the shard of splintered mirror that has pieced the unfortunate Kai, while the austere walls and gate of the Snow Queen’s palace project a convincingly cold and dystopian world. Projections of moving landscape and interior walls all add to a dynamic mix.
Pushing this pulsating tale along was the exhilarating music making of Faith and Branko Ristic. Their Baltic-inspired accordion and violin playing injected an exotic and passionate mood throughout, while composer and musical director Gwyneth Herbert added ethereal soundscapes with keyboards, horn and voice.
With its cast of Old Vic newcomers such as Emily Burnett as Gerda, Steven Roberts as Kai and Jessica Hayles, there was always a zest to the role-playing. Hayles impressed particularly as the Robber Girl and later as the exquisitely sadistic Duchess Greedielle.
A hit to finish the year off with, The Snow Queen is an ambitious project that fulfills its promise. There were minor flaws along the way – some of the songs seemed too laden with lyrics, rendering them a little hard to follow at pace for instance, and the woodland creatures’ revolution seemed to dwindle rather suddenly. But a breathless second half, in which the baddies (always the best) really get going, makes for a barnstorming holiday show. Director Lee Lyford again: “With our newsfeeds increasingly full of prejudice and intolerance, I really wanted to make a Christmas show with something positive to say.” In that he has certainly succeeded. ★★★★★ Simon Bishop 9th November 2016
Production photos by Mark Douet
