Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Aiden Lee Brooks, Cameron McKendrick, Dora Colquhoun, Shaun Roberts.
There are creatures out there whose only aim is that of self-gratification, assuredness so overwhelming that it is blackened, cheap and nasty and an arrogance that sits and festers at the heart of a life like a sweating, bulbous spider on fly filled web, heavily pregnant and with a seething desire to take anything that isn’t theirs. These creatures may still be recognised but the more as a species we have galloped towards a consumerism that is more consuming than helpful, the less chance we have remembering old tales passed down, tales of not accepting help from a creature of the neglected forest.
Perhaps the greatest of these maleficent is Rumplestiltskin, a tale so rarely told in this consumerism age that staging it as part of the winter production and more importantly as the main attraction to the season is to be congratulated and applauded. For the Unity Theatre, one of the few that doesn’t stray into the realms of the traditional offering at this time of year and whose past productions over the last few years have been some of the most enjoyable of all, Rumplestiltskin is a wonderful tale brought to the stage by four very talented young artists, armed to the teeth with imagination and great humour and one in which does absolute credit to Graeme Philips in his final few months as the powerhouse behind the Unity Theatre’s guiding light.
The issue with any type of production aimed at telling a morality tale with children in mind is to wonder whether children in the 21st Century really get the points raised in amongst the great humour. Inside the Unity Theatre there were children, as well as their parents, grandparents and carers who were visibly moved by the memory of this story of greed, power and deceit that it could not help but be transferred to the children watching and hopefully learning.
For Aiden Lee Brooks, Cameron McKendrick, Dora Colquhoun and Shaun Roberts, Rumplestiltskin is a personal triumph, each actor contributing greatly to both the fun, skill and effect of Kevin Dyer’s very clever script and with that greatest of achievements in the festive season, a sincere broad smile upon their faces.
Rumplestiltskin might not have all the associated glamour of other productions in the city this festive period but it is one that sits well within the heart of showing that sometimes too much tinsel is a distraction, all the gold weaved one of counter-balance to life; all that is needed is a simple tale told right and the production will be remembered completely.
A wonderful piece of theatre combining all the right elements and supremely enjoyable.
Ian D. Hall