Shropshire Events and Whats On Guide

Shropshire Events and Whats On Guide

Theatre Review : The Snow Queen at the New Vic Theatre

Chris Eldon Lee reviews “The Snow Queen” which is at the New Vic in Newcastle Under Lyme until Saturday 28th January 

Be prepared to be snowed upon … and absolutely entranced … by this sparkling, pocket, spectacular.

The New Vic Christmas Show grows in stature ever year….but this year it is simply superb in every department.

Theresa Heskins’ beautifully crafted adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tale takes us right back to the untold story before the famous story. A happy young woman, full of joy, is out skating with the boy she admires. As he tells her he loves her, she falls through the ice into a cold, cold, world below. Transformed into the ghostly Snow Queen, she tries to draw Gerda’s friend Kai into her shivering depths for company. But don’t worry; there’s a double redemption.

It’s a much more child-friendly story than Trolls and splintered mirrors…and the whole show is cleverly constructed to thrill kids of every age with the pure skills of good old fashioned theatre. For a little over two hours, it’s a blessed CGI-free zone in all our lives.  What a wonderful Christmas present!

It’s quite beautiful to watch with hugely stylish washes of brilliant colours… and then steely creams as the seasons ebb and flow. The costumes are truly memorable – from the vibrant floral hues of summer to the intricate, swirling snowflake capes worn by the sure-footed young dancers – who silently weave their way into the action with all the grace of the real thing.

It must have been Christmas come early for the design team. Props pop out of open, illuminated books. Icicles suddenly appear hanging from the rafters. The lighting crew magically allow the skaters to carve words into the icy floor… “as simple as ABC in the ICE”. And then they combine with the choreographer, Beverly Edmunds, to create a fantastic sense of movement as the village children run a toboggan race (downhill, on a flat stage) or the Snow Queen slides on in her ice carriage. The two half-human swans that pull it, incidentally, are classic examples of the incredible imagination that has gone into the production. All this illusion is created without anyone going anywhere … because of the audience on all sides.

There is another, bobble-hatted, genius at work behind the keyboard. James Atherton has produced an almost continuous score of enormously varied music.  Leaping from pre-war big band jazz to string quintet, ballroom to opera and absolute showbiz belters, he underscores the emotional waves of the whole show. Musician-actors constantly come and go….grabbing a saxophone here or a violin there…to produce a full, flowing, orchestra pit sound. Sometimes they audaciously take their instruments right into the action. I’ve never seen anyone play cello on rollerblades before. And in between the lively song and dance numbers, there is the subtlety of gently tinkling ice bells or the jokey squeak of violin string footsteps.

Frankly the attention to detail is breath taking. And that goes for the excellent cast too. It’s a true, traditional ensemble of twelve superbly drilled performers playing dozens of characters with vivacious energy and invention.

Natasha Davidson and Luke Murphy have the journeymen job of purveying the plot…but their kidd-ish falling out with each other will speak straight to the hearts of any child who has argued with their best friend forever. Kids can be cruel and when  Gerda tells the summer flowers to “Be quiet…or I’ll pick you”, adults smiled all over the auditorium.

Polly Lister in imperious as the drowned Queen. But Heskins gives her just enough lines to show that a human heart still beats, despite the tragedy that turned her head. “I want to hear the sound of laughter”, she says, orders Kai to be happy. And later, “How I long to warm again…”

The rest of the actors are just having a ball…working jolly hard and clearly loving every minute. I fancy their greatest challenge comes as Time is finally  turned back and, in a surreal sequence, they re-enact previous scenes again … but backwards; including the lines.

The Snow Queen is technically and artistically wonderful. When it was all over (and the way we were told it was all over is just as ingenious) there was a collective sigh … and thunderous applause.

Photo ; Andrew Billington

Visit www.newvictheatre.org.uk for bookings & more information about New Vic Theatre