THE PIED PIPER: A RAT’S TALE

Little Angel Studios

★★★

“an imaginative and well-crafted reinterpretation of a familiar story”

Most audiences already know the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. But what happens if the story is retold from the point of view of those usually described as the problem — the rats themselves? This is the central idea behind Little Angel Theatre’s The Pied Piper: A Rat’s Tale, and it is also the production’s most effective act of adaptation.

The world of the show is established immediately through music. A haunting flute melody, combined with loose robes, waistcoats, head coverings and layers of fabric, creates a culturally hybrid visual style. Rather than presenting a realistic version of medieval Germany, the production builds a timeless folkloric world: a place of travelling musicians, storytellers, markets and old legends. This gives the story an international quality and allows the audience to enter the world quickly without being tied too closely to one historical setting.

The storyteller welcomes the audience warmly and playfully brings the local area into the performance, at one point referring to the market as “Islington”, the neighbourhood in which Little Angel Theatre is based. From there, the story follows Horatio, a young rat who leaves his quiet home by the river in search of excitement. After arriving in “Hamelin” and taking a nap at the market, he is captured by humans, passed off as a replacement puppy and sold to a family. His whirlwind of adventures then sets in motion the events that eventually lead to the familiar story of the Pied Piper.

This shift in perspective is the strongest element of the production. The rats are no longer simply a plague or a comic threat. They become characters with their own motivations, relationships and points of view. The show therefore becomes less a retelling of a famous story and more “the story behind the story”.

The solo performer, Steve Tiplady, handles the different characters with clarity and energy, and the production itself is carefully structured and highly tourable. Some of the most theatrical moments come from changes in scale. Tiny finger puppets are sometimes almost too small for younger audience members to see, but this limitation is later turned into a surprise. A black curtain is lifted to reveal an entire miniature town, with carts moving through the streets and small rats appearing at windows. These changes of perspective are simple, inventive and deeply theatrical.

The ending, however, feels rushed and dramatically less convincing. In attempting to soften the grim ending of the original tale, Horatio ultimately becomes a hero by saving the children, giving the production a more reassuring, family-friendly conclusion. Yet this also raises a more complicated question.

Horatio begins as an ordinary rat who feels overlooked. He leaves home, survives an adventure, saves others, becomes a hero and is finally accepted. The emotional logic therefore risks becoming: you are worthy of love because you have proved yourself exceptional.

For a contemporary children’s audience, this idea of conditional belonging deserves closer examination. Does Horatio really need to become extraordinary in order to deserve acceptance? Perhaps the more interesting question is whether he ever needed to prove his worth at all.

A Rat’s Tale is an imaginative and well-crafted reinterpretation of a familiar story, with strong puppetry, clear storytelling and several beautifully theatrical moments. Its change of perspective feels fresh. Yet by returning to a conventional heroic ending, it loses some of the complexity that the adaptation initially promises.