THE GIRL WITH THE IRON CLAWS @ SOHO THEATRE

A tale of love, defiance and adventure, the girl with the iron claws explores the lengths and breadths the youngest daughter of a king must take to find her true love… a bear, Valemon to be exact…

This is the debut show from the theatre company The Wrong Crowd, a collaboration between writer/director Hannah Mulder and designer/puppet director Rachael Canning who ‘share a similar vision for inventive, joyful, provocative storytelling that revels in the wonder of live performances’.

This was apparent in this hour-long spectacle, which managed to transform a small black box space into a vivid landscape. I found that the rustic setting transported the audience into this deep dark forest and that the white canvas backdrop was successfully used to create great shadow imagery.  This world however could only be complete with the characters, which inhabited it and I have to say that the ensemble were brilliant. From Clare Franenkel’s sweet yet defiant characterisation of the girl, the core of the whole piece to Laura Cairns’ characterisation of the villainous yet hopelessly in love Troll Queen, you couldn’t help but be drawn into this colourful setting. The puppetry added another dimension to the piece, which I felt was absolutely mesmerising. I can’t recommend this enough! An absolute must see. All in all I found the piece a breath of fresh air and look forward to hopefully seeing future projects from The Wrong Crowd. I give the piece a 5/5.

The Girl With the Iron Claws

Performed by The Wrong Crowd Theatre Company

Written by Theatrefullstop