Gennelle Smith previews a trio act from Edinburgh at the local Harrogate Theatre
Integral to the performance was the interaction between the puppeteers and their charges, a challenge that they rose to remarkably well. Their demeanour and appearance, clad head to toe in black, meant that aside from the odd shuffle or slip they blended seamlessly into the background, allowing all focus to rest on the eerily stiff, yet still remarkably expressive puppets. Steven Li, in his role as Hansel excelled in this, capturing the blank unnatural characteristics of the puppet wonderfully.
Set was also manipulated by the puppeteers and moved along with the human puppets, ranging from an undulating river complete with swimming duck to a troupe of dwarves, fashioned plainly yet effectively from cloaks and cloth faces. This mirrored the simple plots and dialogue, which far from boring the audience helped to draw them in with familiarity and ensure that the actions of the puppets never became distressingly convoluted.
The story was dictated throughout by a pair of narrators, Abigail Denneny and Adrian Tellwright who were superb for the most part, their calm stillness yet urgent narrative never detracting from the puppets themselves. However the bold move of sharing of lines between themselves and the puppets all too easily displayed any slipped lines and the differing rhythms of voice occasionally ensured an unflattering mesh of speech.
What lifted the performance from the simply different was the music, performed live before the audience on a number of exotic instruments including the Erhu (a two-stringed fiddle) and the Indian Flute among others. Constantly wavering gently in the background throughout the play, they accentuated perfectly the gentle, almost ethereal nature of the production as well as providing any necessary song effects – the trills of the singing bird was a particular favourite.
The production is unlike anything performed in the barn recently and this unavoidably brings with it certain characteristics. Whilst the show was fascinating and wonderfully elegant to this reviewer, the lack of normal expression and simple pre-determined plots may equally bore others. For now however, at least for myself, the novelty remains.
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