| Warm Engaging Start for the Christmas Season |
At Louche Theatre |
| Louche Theatre- The Snow Queen , Morlan Centre Aberystwyth , December 1, 2013 |
It has been almost three years since a Charles Way script played in Aberystwyth. Back in February 2011 it was an occasion of warmth and poignancy in the same venue, the distinctive Morlan Centre. Seeing “The Snow Queen” is a reminder of the lucidity and deftness of the writing that Way has brought to his many adaptations and original works.The tale of Gerda (Emma Sims) and her journey through the seasons in search of friend Kay (Gemma Clark) allows Louche’s seventeen-strong company scope a-plenty for colourful character acting. Heather Giles as Grandma sits on the open stage perusing a huge decorated book. John Edwards is severe pedantic teacher Mr Overskou. Later he loses his tails and waistcoat of funereal black to become the King of Summer. He and Roger Boyle’s orange t-shirted J J are a pair of laid-back surfing dudes. J J, masking his age with a gruesome curly-haired wig, is in pursuit of charmingly fresh Frederica, played by Tiffany Evans. Caroline Clark on wardrobe has probably never had to produce such a variety of costumes. Milly Jackdaw’s Snow Queen wears a long dress of icy hue with an icicle headdress. The scenes in Scandinavia are all sheepskin jackets, boots and woolly hats. When Gerda moves to spring she really does meet a garden of Daffodil, Snowdrop and Bindweed. The company includes some reliably familiar faces like Denise Williams’ Mrs Fyn and Ann Penny’s Mrs Dear. New faces in supporting roles include Marianne Hughes, with a finely developed sense of verbal timing, and Dylan Edwards’ mix of charm and fierceness as the laughing robber. Daz O’Connell is a very particular earnest Bae the tap-dancing reindeer. Stephen Griffiths and Adam Heywood have cast the Snow Queen’s domain in colours of a glacial blue. Director Harry Durnall, his own designer, has given his stage two groups of three Christmas trees apiece. Louche’s “the Snow Queen” is the first of the Christmas shows off the blocks; it’s a nice one. |
Reviewed by: Adam Somerset |
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