Rapunzelstiltskin

Storytelling and theatre meet in a comic theatrical retelling of two classic tales retold with fun and vigour. The first is the story of Rapunzel, the girl with hair far longer than the longest piece of spaghetti you've ever seen. The second is the story of Marisol, a poor girl who has to spin straw into gold and is helped by Rumpelstiltskin, the little elfin creature who demands a very heavy reward in return. The team behind this show weave the tales together and come up with an entertaining show full of enough unexpected twists and turns to keep audience members of all ages on their toes. There are enough familiar reprises of comic material and catchy theme tunes and actions to keep younger members of the audience amused and engaged as well. The cast admirably gets the grown-ups to join in with gusto. While the script was original, varied in pace and full of dramatic twists and turns, other elements of the production were severely unbalanced by contrast. The costumes were amateurish by contrast with the script, and while the pantomime-style characterisations were painted larger than life and with loads of energy by all, other elements were less balanced. While Nick Blakely's comic timing was well-judged, Henry Steele's mime skills were definitely less so. But everything paled into insignificance beside Sarah Amankwah's performance as Dame Gothel, who ended up stealing the show - well worth the price of the admission ticket on its own. A good morning's entertainment all in all.