The Miller accidentally tells the King that his daughter Emily can spin straw into gold, leading to him locking her up and forcing her to complete the task or else face death. Emily has to seek the help of a mysterious and melancholy creature to help her, but once she has parted with all of her jewellery the only thing she has left to offer is her first and yet to be born child! Fast forward a year and the King and Emily are happily married, the kingdom has never been better and they are celebrating the joyous birth of their baby girl! But the evil creature demands his reward, unless Emily can guess his unusual name!
This new re-telling of the classic Rumpelstiltskin story at the Egg Theatre is a great show for all the family. The first half is mainly expositional, but the action does pick up in the second half, including a great opening number. The songs are incredibly catchy and fun, although I did feel that some of the lyrics pushed the young audience’s vocabulary quite a bit! However, the slapstick humour, puns and audience participation definitely kept them engaged. The actors often refer to the audience, they even take a list of names for Emily to guess! This really makes you feel like a part of the story and adds to the fun.
All the actors are witty and energetic. Richard Lowe is perfectly casted as the uptight, money grabbing king. His gestures, facial expressions and over-articulation are perfect and very comical. Crystal Condie is great as the wicked Rumpelstilskin, her jazzy singing voice gives a great modern twist to the character. Her black, sparkly, and spiky costume is absolutely fantastic, if not incredibly creepy! The other performers all look as though they have been lifted from the pages of a classic children’s storybook, adding to the magic of this production.
This show is great for children but has plenty of jokes that can make it entertaining for the adults as well. A great choice for a pre-christmas family outing! 3/5
Review written by Charlotte Claydon.
Rumplestiltskin is currently showing at The Egg (Theatre Royal Bath) until Sunday 4th January. For more information on the production, visit here…
Leave a Comment