Tag Archives: Kerry Frampton

Little Red Robin Hood

Little Red Riding Hood

★★½

Battersea Arts Centre

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD at the Battersea Arts Centre

★★½

Little Red Robin Hood

“all three performers worked harder than they should have to with Little Red Robin Hood”

 

The Sleeping Trees return to the Battersea Arts Centre with yet another mashed up pantomime, and this year it is the turn of Robin Hood and Little Red Riding Hood. Little Red Robin Hood has a lively script. That’s as you would expect from writers as talented as James Dunnell-Smith, John Woodburn and Joshua George Smith (with an able assist from Musical Director and Sound Designer Ben Hales). But, and it pains me to say this, the overall production is a disappointment.

Let’s start with the premise that kicks off the show. It might seem cute to hand the show over to a couple of earnest ushers, when the cast inexplicably—o.k not so inexplicably at this moment in history—get caught in a Tube strike, and special guest star Cher’s helicopter gets improbably stuck in mid air. And it’s no fault of performers Simone Cornelius, Miya James and Sam Rix that they get handed a script to improvise around, that was obviously written for the usual cast of Dunnell-Smith, Woodburn and Smith. Add to that some hastily made props, and some sketchy costumes, and the overall effect of Little Red Robin Hood is not of a plucky trio going on to save the show, but of three performers out of their depth, despite their best efforts.

The plot of Little Red Robin Hood is a nicely updated version of Little Red Riding Hood (aka Little Red) who wants to meet her hero, Robin Hood. Little Red has a couple of problems—one is that she is not a very good shot with the bow and arrow, and the second is that nobody knows what has happened to Robin Hood. The evil Sheriff of Nottingham and the Big Bad Wolf have joined forces which is very bad news for the citizens of both Sherwood Forest and Nottingham, since the Sheriff wants to make them all homeless by pulling down their houses, and putting up a big car park. The Sheriff is seemingly untroubled by things like planning permission, and apparently has the power to throw anyone he doesn’t like in jail—again, not totally implausible in this day and age. Things look bad for brave Little Red and her mum. And that’s to say nothing of Red’s Grandma, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Cher—if Cher lived in Sherwood Forest, which is almost completely unlike Los Angeles, where the real Cher lives. Anyway. There are some brilliant plot twists, involving long lost lovers reunited, a long lost Robin Hood found, and a pantomime unicorn. All ends happily as Little Red switches her red cloak for one of woodland green.

Part of the problem with Little Red Robin Hood is that The Sleeping Trees are victims of their own success. At their best, they are unbeatable at the pantomime mashup, and it’s noticeable when they fail to reach such high standards. Little Red Robin Hood, as a children’s show, is actually a good piece of educational theatre, since it is all about teaching kids how to be an audience at a pantomime. The performers, particularly Sam Rix, do an excellent job of teaching the children how to boo a villain, learn the stock responses, and how to leave, and return, after the interval. Simone Cornelius is a versatile performer with a good voice. Miya James, as the resident Californian, is, not surprisingly, the most out of her depth—Americans don’t do pantomime, and always look bemused when you try to explain it to them. In fairness, pantomime does sound an odd thing to put on stage, if you haven’t grown up with the traditions. But all three performers worked harder than they should have to with Little Red Robin Hood.

It’s probably too soon to predict when we’ll return to a world that’s recognizable pre 2020, and perhaps we never will. But that’s why it’s so important to be able to rely on the things that anchor us in a time of such unpredictable, and unwelcome, change. Particularly for our children, and their families. One of those things is The Sleeping Trees’ annual pantomime mashup for audiences of all ages. Isn’t that what the holiday season is all about?

 

Reviewed on 8th December 2022

by Dominica Plummer

Photography by Ali Wright

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

 

Hofesh Shecter: Contemporary Dance 2 | ★★★★★ | October 2022
Tanz | ★★★★ | November 2022

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The Legend Of Moby Dick Whittington

The Legend of Moby Dick Whittington

★★★★★

Online

The Legend Of Moby Dick Whittington

The Legend of Moby Dick Whittington

Online until 5th January via www.thesleepingtrees.co.uk

Reviewed – 30th November 2020

★★★★★

 

“a fabulous family show that will have everyone feeling the holiday spirit”

 

I first saw the work of the Sleeping Trees in 2019, and a good time was had by all who watched their zany take on Goldilocks and the Three Musketeers at the Battersea Arts Centre. It feels good, therefore, to report that even a pandemic can’t stop James Dunnell-Smith, Joshua George Smith, and John Woodburn from performing yet another mashed up panto in 2020. Moby Dick Whittington is a little different, it’s true. For starters the Sleeping Trees had to move into James’ home to perform it. The Company had to film the whole thing so that we could enjoy it in our homes. It’s clearly a notion that mingled inspiration with perspiration. And for parents who are looking for an easy way to tire out the kids on Christmas Eve in exchange for an hour’s extra sleep on Christmas morning, it’s a godsend. Just sit everyone down in front of the TV, mince pies in hand. Be warned, however, that no one will be sitting down for long. Moby Dick Whittington will have the youngsters jumping around and building forts in the living room in no time. As the Trees often say during all the mayhem that ensues — “Sorry, Parents.”

In 2020, the year we’d all like to forget, it’s the turn of Melville’s seafaring classic novel Moby Dick and that perennial panto favourite Dick Whittington to undergo dramatic vivisection. The plot (devised by the Sleeping Trees and Ben Hales) is way too involved to go into here (and anyway, spoilers). Rest assured that there is a happy ending. No whales are massacred in the making of this movie. There is some ingenious updating—for example, Captain Ahab becomes Dr. Jessica Ahab, an intrepid marine biologist. She is hunting the great white whale in the interests of science, naturally. And familiar characters such as Dick Whittington and his Cat are pretty much as we remember them in a more traditional panto. The Sleeping Trees’ arch nemesis King Rat makes his annual appearance. What Santa, Pinocchio, Scrooge and an entrepreneurial barista named Starbuck have to do with the plot — well, you’ll just have to watch Moby Dick Whittington to find out.

The strong points of this show are many, starting with the performers themselves. Relaxed in front of the camera, as opposed to their more frenetic style on stage, the trio pull off their usual quick character and costume changes with aplomb. Shaun Reynolds’ clever filming allows them to do this in “up close and personal” mode as well. A storm at sea is both funny and effective with some nifty hand held camera work. But the real genius of Moby Dick Whittington is the way the Sleeping Trees use multiple locations throughout James’ house. Kudos to director Kerry Frampton for figuring out the logistics. We move from the Christmas Lights ceremony on the staircase to the London sewers in the toilet. (Of course.) A ship at sea, and yes, even the inside of a whale’s belly are deftly created with easily obtained household items in the living room. (And we’re invited to play along.) King Rat and Dick Whittington fight their duel in the kitchen. One of the best moments in the show is meeting the great white whale himself in the bath, and learning how to speak whale. Don’t be surprised if your kids do “try this at home.” “Sorry, parents!”

Moby Dick Whittington is a fabulous family show that will have everyone feeling the holiday spirit. The only problem on the horizon might be the difficulty of coaxing kids back into theatres when they reopen. Why get dressed up to sit still in a theatre, when you could be at home jumping and up down on the sofa chasing a great white whale with bedsheets, a wooden spoon, and some toilet rolls?

 

 

Reviewed by Dominica Plummer

Photography by Shaun Reynolds

 

The Legend of Moby Dick Whittington

Online until 5th January via www.thesleepingtrees.co.uk

 

Recently reviewed by Dominica:
Revisor | ★★★★★ | Sadler’s Wells Theatre | March 2020
Sky In The Pie | ★★★ | The Vaults | March 2020
The Revenger’s Tragedy (La Tragedia Del Vendicatore) | ★★★★★ | Barbican | March 2020
The Tempest | ★★★★ | Jermyn Street Theatre | March 2020
Bird | ★★ | Cockpit Theatre | September 2020
Bread And Circuses | ★★½ | Online | September 2020
Minutes To Midnight | ★★★★ | Online | September 2020
Paradise Lost | ★★★★ | Cockpit Theatre | September 2020
Persephone’s Dream | ★★★ | Online | September 2020
The Trilobite | ★★★★ | Online | September 2020

 

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