‘There’s something for everyone,’ insists Homespun Theatre of their children’s yarn, East of the Sun, West of the Moon. However if you are looking for a fresh take on the well-worn fairy tale genre you might want to look elsewhere.
Fusing an eclectic mix of folk song, pantomime routines and simulated wind sound effects, the cast of four enact the tale of a girl’s plight to save a bear from a troll-queen’s pesky curse. The quartet themselves are charming and engaging, they’ve clearly spent much of their lives immersed in children’s fiction. Paul Tonkin, in particular is a hoot as the polar bear, his physical comedy skits elicited the loudest laughs from the audiences younger members.
Lamentably, these moments are few and far between as the running time is dominated by a sequence of tedious and redundant narration sequences. Here the natural, breezy performances wane, as the cast adopt the guise of bad Blue Peter presenters, relaying the simple plot to children whose enjoyment would be better served by more time with the exploding trolls.
The obligatory ‘grown-up’ jokes fared better. One gets the impression that while the actors venerate children’s fantasy, they don’t fully share the sense of humour; they seemed more at ease with the sarcastic asides than anything else.
Design consultant Anna Michaels skill is evident; the space is peppered with an array of curious objects and props, which were milked for all their worth by the cast. Endless paper snowflake flurries, however, can’t quell the nagging sensation that the show is lacking the sense of awe and wonderment that Homespun have set out to evoke. This isn’t a bad way to spend forty five minutes but aside from the odd glimmer of brilliance, it’s a fairly forgettable tale.
