A GRIMM TALE

Tue 23 - Sat 27 April 2024 at 7.30pm
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Sheep Street, Northampton NN1 3NL

Photo gallery

Review: laughter from the start
Philip Welsh

I am always slightly nervous about productions which have been developed over a period of time.

The programme note said that Grimm Tales had begun life as a 10-minute 'devising piece, now expanded by Liz Vokes and Meryl Couper into a full-length show. It can be challenging to produce additional content up to the quality of the concentrated initial inspiration, but there was no 'padding' here! I really need not have worried.

The on-stage team of 12, with one director and two backstage crew were never going to let this be anything other than 'full throttle!'

A badly-behaved troupe of actors entered the space and had the audience laughing from the start. As a warm-up prologue, it cleverly managed to incorporate the safety briefing without diminishing its effectiveness. The concept was that the audience were to be told four tales from the Grimm Brothers repertoire of darker 'fairy stories, with the delightfully executed conceit that audience members could choose which ones. (I saw the show twice, but I won't give away my discovery as to how this was carefully engineered to ensure that the cast knew exactly what was coming, even if the audience didn't!)

Funny songs

The four stories (titles truncated as they were very long and not actually in the programme) all involved lead actors, supported by the troupe, with great, entertainingly funny songs adding to the action. If I have a criticism, it is that one or two of the songs were a bit long, but pretty good for all that!

The Soldier and the Devil featured Hair Turner and Mia Ballard. This is by far the strongest performance I have seen from Harry, with a larger-than-life characterisation from Mia. It is lovely to see how they have progressed.

The Three Surgeons was suitably gory, with impressive body-part props drawing groans and laughter in equal measure. David Pardoe, Jude Wilton and Rik E Dean took the lead here and managed to extract their hearts, eyes and hands as well as the maximum response from the audience.

The Wizard and the Egg was the longest tale of the four giving Rob Kendall the opportunity to explore a comic persona that had the audience member next to me barely able to control her giggles. Liz Vokes was the most colourful egg I have ever seen and managed to maintain the plot development whilst delivering some terrible puns and comic business.

The Three Apprentices were played by Jude, Rik and David with Mia providing some terrifying control in her re-created role of the Devil. A very clever script here kept the complex scene development effective, and Billy Brown (who had contributed some very funny moments in the previous tales) came into his own as the devious innkeeper. There were some linking characters appearing in more than one story. Who would forget Mia's singing cat and Billy's avaricious landlord? And the three sisters played by Maggie Holland, Kimberley Thornhill and Toni Clark brought some elements of pantomime to the show, without the OTT elements that so often detract.

At a peak

Anthony Newby and Liz Vokes provided the musical content. I have always been very aware of how much an effective underscore can add to both drama and comedy on stage, and it certainly did here. The songs were impressive (and the finale a great 'earworm' example of audience participation).

Precision cueing from Rob Vaughan on the lights and unobtrusive but highly effective stage management from Angela Warren must not go unremarked!

For an in-house developed show, which would not have been out of place in a professional venue, this was an impressive example of what can be achieved. Liz, Meryl and Anthony are to be congratulated for the writing and arrangements.

It was obvious how good Meryl is as a director, both because of the very effective staging within the confines of the Holy Sepulchre space, and in the way she had brought the performances of some actors I have known for a long time, and some that are relatively new to me, to an impressive 'beyond their comfort zone' level. All groups have their peaks and troughs. It seems that Masque is at a peak!

Preview
Meryl Couper | director

This is a new piece of writing and world premiere of this production.

A group of touring actors have arrived to present their latest show, but if you were expecting Rapunzel or Little Red Riding Hood, then think again. This troupe have delved into the Grimm library to find the darkest, most chilling, blood-curdling stories that the brothers wrote, and adapted them for the stage in their own unique way.

These oddball thespians take on multiple roles in their latest all singing, all dancing, production A Grimm Tale. Expect pacts with the Devil, tempting Sirens, murderous landlords, mutilating surgeons, and a dancing Egg!

These are Fairy Tales, but not as we know it. Will good triumph over evil? Of course! There must be a happy ending. But we might lose a few body parts along the way.

The two-act play will be performed in The Church of Holy Sepulchre, in the round and the production will be set in a non-specific era of the past.

Masque Theatre's production is directed by Meryl Couper.
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