The all-singing, all-dancing rock-based finale was great. The workshops before the show were brilliant.
The splendid marketing bits and pieces, which included a card to hang on your door warning 'Enter at your peril' and featuring the play's hideous wolf, were spot on - and testament to generous public funding.
The talented cast of singers not only played all the characters, but all the instruments except keyboards. This intense multi-skilling and roles being doubled means this production by Theatr Na N'Og and Theatr Brycheiniog (their first touring outside Wales) must please the accountants. Punters may be a different matter.
I can't recall being in an audience at the Mac with so many restless and grizzling kids. Noisy yes, but noisy involved. This reshaping of a Welsh legend about a princess
who saves and befriends animals is simply too long for its intended audience and doesn't have the pace to keep them attentive. There seemed to be a high level of confusion about the plot as well. And that was just the adults.
There are some splendid comic moments from bumbling servants and frightened animals 'disguised' as humans, but
the musical numbers err too much on the side of ballad-based show tunes.
There's a nicely simple but versatile set (great waterfall, marvellous sea crossing), stripped-down but effective lighting, ditto choreography, a hunky lead-guitar playing Prince (Daniel Lloyd) and really nasty villain (Simon Armstrong) who could have been featured more. We were all ready to boo and hiss him, but weren't encouraged to in the performance I saw, thus missing a very basic way of keeping the kids interested.
The show comes to Warwick Arts Centre (02476 524524) on April 30 and plays at Hereford's Courtyard (08701 122330) on May 2 and 3.
Sid Langley
