Emily Cairns Dreamcatcher. Photo: Bill Knight

By any conventional definition this show is in a genre of its own: a antidote to standard pantomime. Borrowing an idea from Into the Woods, John Savourin’s script whizzes us from one fairy story to another so that we get a gloriously chaotic mixture which includes magic beans, lamps to rub, a flying carpet, a poisoned apple, three blind mice and the Jolly Roger – among many other delights, all packed in fast and furious. The vibrant energy which underpins this show is very striking.

And it’s a completely unexpected twist on the Rumpelstiltskin story. He’s an evil goblin whose encounters with the Dreamcatcher and show-long quest for the Story Teller eventually persuade him to be kind and nice. He no longer wants the name there was initially such a fuss about either.

Because this is an opera company the singing – in what is effectively a four-hander rock opera – is at a higher standard than in most pantomimes. And although it’s sung to a pre-recorded sound track it works coherently most of the time.  Philip Lee, for example, as the goblin (nice ears!)  sings with real warmth and proper musicality as well as bounding all over the stage and commanding it with glee. I’m not surprised to read that he has done a lot of G&S as well as other opera.

Emily Cairns is outstandingly versatile as the malevolent, gangster-style Dreamcatcher and in several other roles with a range of accents and body stances. Tamoy Phipps is a strong beltissimo singer and especially good (very funny) as Jack’s leaky cow. Lucy Whitney, light on her feet and with lively adaptability, has fun as Larry the Cat, among other parts all done with verve.

The night I saw Rumpelstiltskin the audience mainly consisted of adults who were lapping it up. I couldn’t help wondering whether it might be a little too sophisticated to appeal to children although the cast pulled two children out of the audience and got them to “help” with some rowdy rat catching and that seemed to work well enough. Best joke of the show was calling one of the offending rodents “Rat Hancock”.

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  All photos: Bill Knight

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First published by Sardines: http://ardinesmagazine.co.uk/review/rumpelstiltskin-2/