6 – 30 December
There is something quite apposite about circus performers telling Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s story of a crashed pilot and an innocent interplanetary traveller. The kind of selfless dedication to their physical art form breeds a lack of cynicism, which comes across in performance. It’s an art form that perhaps lives more than any other in the moment. The obvious jeopardy that accompanies each feat of acrobatic skill, be it tumbling, juggling, monocycle or – as well displayed here – hoop work adds frisson moment by moment.
The simplicity and apparent purity of the story’s theme has found devotees ever since its first publication in 1943, not least amongst the hippy generation of the late sixties and early seventies. The childlike central character, who makes the story accessible to a young audience, belies the more serious themes that the story hints at; the place of love and friendship in a person’s life and the importance of never losing the imagination that, with the loss of innocence, we may leave behind.
Briefly, for those of you unfamiliar with the story; a solo pilot crashes into the desert and whilst attempting to mend the plane, is befriended by a young boy, mysteriously arriving on earth during a planet-hopping journey. The boy’s own planet is very small and boasts a single flower and three volcanoes – two dormant and one extinct. The boy, the Little Prince, tells the pilot stories about his planet hopping and the people he has met on his journey.
Being an extended metaphor, in which are contained many more narrowly focused metaphors, the story cleverly lends itself to various interpretations. The finely honed skills of Metta Theatre are thus perfect for leading the audience’s imaginations on their own fantastic journeys. The fulgent character of Joshua Frazer’s Little Prince, a wise head on young and apparently innocent shoulders is the perfect vehicle for gentle maxims such as: ’Love makes a thing unique’, and, ‘Only the heart can see clearly’.
Spinning onto the stage in a giant hoop reminding us of one of art’s most famous images, Leonardo’s Vitruvian Man, it is all too easy to undervalue the skill involved when it is made to look so effortless. Indeed the circus style performances of the Little Prince, the Flower and the Fox (Tilley Lee Kronick and Hazel Lam) and Drunkard/Lamplighter/Ruler (Ben Kaufman) is entertainment in itself. Equally so is the music of Candida Caldicot which moves through lyrical and at times ethereal chamber music to brisk folk tunes and brings both richness and breadth to the narrative. And then a dusting of charm from the capable and effervescent youth ensemble gives a constant reminder of the core of the story.
Rosalind Ford as the Pilot, with one foot in the greasy world of nuts and bolts and the other in the tenuous world of fable is our capable dragoman, grounded, literally and figuratively.
This is as entertaining a family Christmas show as one might hope for and with a heart that matches the spirit of the season.
★★★★☆ Graham Wyles 22nd December 2022
Photo credit: Alex Brenner
