★★★

“The little-known story is astounding and has a propulsive energy all its own.”

The rough-and-ready, make-do-and-mend, why-not-try-this approach of the early animation pioneers is both the style and subject of Akimbo Theatre’s rambunctious retelling of the Lotte Reiniger story.

And it is quite a story. Lotte, played with bags of undaunted pluck by Lexie Baker, has a dream of turning her delicate silhouettes into the first full-length animated feature. We are in Germany in the early 1920s. Walt Disney is still years away from Sleeping Beauty.

But Lotte will not be dissuaded, despite the prevailing sexual politics of the time – and the rise of Nazism.

Her first encounter with her eventual collaborators is straight out of The Big Bang Theory: cloistered nerds, obsessing over their art, unaccustomed to – and not happy about – this brilliant bright girl in their midst, small scissors round her neck ready to cut a silhouette of exquisite delicacy at the drop of a hat.

But they succumb to her enthusiasm, vision and craft, and soon they embark on a four-year project to create The Adventures of Prince Achmed, a full-length epic compiled one frame at a time, a project that would push the boundaries of the possible. Along the way, Lotte invents the multiplane camera – providing depth – long before Disney popularised the concept.

The five-strong troupe – Baker, Owen Bleach, Halvor Tangen Schultz, Flo Wiedenbach and Richard Durning – devise and perform the piece under Rosanna Mallinson’s robust direction. They hurl themselves into the febrile world of interwar Berlin: violence, Schnapps, love, chaos, debauchery and storyboards.

The ensemble throw everything at the piece – dance, slapstick, caricature, screeching. Some of it works, some of it drags when the frayed edges become more of the piece than the piece itself. The cabaret scene, for one, is a seemingly endless indulgence we could do without. We hanker to return to the studio, where the artists’ work is cleverly projected on a screen, giving beguiling glimpses of what the fuss was all about.

The second half takes a more sinister turn as the Nazi censor sees degeneracy in the fairy tale. He tries both to seduce the filmmaker to the Nazi cause and to drive her there through blackmail. These scenes should have a long-lens-of-history feel, but they are horribly present and uncomfortably familiar.

This hotchpotch of styles, carnivals and cavorting sometimes tests our patience, but the performers are never less than committed and joyous. The little-known story is astounding and has a propulsive energy all its own.

Like giddy schoolchildren at the end of a sugar-rush day, the cast settles down before the big screen. Everyone falls quiet, everyone sits still, everyone stares up, open mouthed. In a moving and enchanting moment of wonder and connection, we see a prince sail across the storm-tossed Arabian seas once more.

Breathtaking.

FIREBIRD

King’s Head Theatre

★★★★

“a beautifully told love story”

Firebird by Richard Hough tells the story of Sergey Fetisov during the 1970s in occupied Estonia, and how he fell in love with fighter pilot Roman Matvejev. Due to homophobic attitudes in the soviet regime – still present today – they’re ability to keep their love secret is challenging and ends up splitting Roman and Sergey’s life into pieces.

Hough succeeds in adapting the previously made screenplay of the same name of this story into a well crafted and succinct 90 minute stage play. The pacing of the action is good and doesn’t linger on any unnecessary details. Immediately introducing the three central characters via a play boxing fight before a radio recording of the news at the time, established both the key points of the characters’ relationship dynamics, as well as the context of the time period. Despite the play being based on Sergey’s memoir; Roman was framed as the central character – depicting how he was likely central to Sergey’s life. Roman follows Sergey through his life throughout the story, but it is always Roman who leads the way. Robert Eades plays Roman with an incredible sense of optimism wrapped around a straight backed matter-of-fact and blunt approach. This contrasts with Theo Walker’s Sergey, who is often nervous and confused, yet innately curious and controversial. I did find I often struggled to see romantic or sexual chemistry from the pair. The initial kiss felt stiff and out of nowhere due to not seeing any flirting or hints to their attraction previously. In the end, however, their love is believable and creates some wonderfully touching moments.

Another key component in Roman’s wild affairs is Luisa Jannsen, played by Sorcha Kennedy. Kennedy is incredibly engaging in her performance, I was often drawn closely to her eyes and found a whole world of truth and emotion deep within them. Nigel Hastings also stands out as Colonel Alexei Kuznestov, with excellent focus, poignant intention and a flare with the rhythm of the text. All are complemented by Owen Lewis’ direction which manages to make an intimate staging feel massive with an incredible use of space, that manages to glide through different locations and times with ease. Clancy Flynn’s lighting design must also be praised at this point, often fading between warm or cool tones to indicate different locations based on their atmospheric tone. There was also one sequence where various colourful lights were used to portray fireworks, which then quickly transitioned to an explosion. A subtle yet effective portrayal of the events moving forward. The same can be said of Gregor Donnelly’s design, with the use of a simple set that leaves the stage pretty much bare asides a few pieces of furniture: two stage-like wooden blocks, a few chairs, a desk. All of which are transported throughout the piece as and when needed, achieving the same goal of making the intimate staging feel larger than it is.

Overall, Firebird is a beautifully told love story that shows how happiness can be found in human connection in spite of all the challenges put against it.

THE ANIMATOR

Southwark Playhouse Borough

★★★

“The little-known story is astounding and has a propulsive energy all its own.”

THE ANIMATOR

Southwark Playhouse Borough

Reviewed on 21st August 2025

by Giles Broadbent

Photography by Luisa De la Concha Montes

Recent reviews from this venue:

THE ANIMATOR

THE ANIMATOR

THE ANIMATOR

FIREBIRD

King’s Head Theatre

★★★★

“a beautifully told love story”

FIREBIRD

King’s Head Theatre

Reviewed on 21st January 2025

by David Robinson

Photography by Geraint Lewis

Previously reviewed at this venue:

FIREBIRD

FIREBIRD

FIREBIRD

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