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Outdoor Summer Theatre 2012- All the Fairy Tales You Know (and Some You Don't) | 
All the Fairytales You Know (and Some You Don't)
by Daniel Allan and Lisa Norriss
The perfect package of summertime, stories and sublime comedy! An outdoor, Summer Laugh-fest in the tradition of 'The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged)'. Performed live theatre in the Fairfield House Meadow!
Four very brave (or very stupid) actors attempt to present 90 Fairy Tales in 90 minutes!
Cast
Daniel Allan
Laura Irish
Hamish Parkinson
Roger Sanders
Director
Lisa Norriss
Crew
Bridget Sanders
Debbie Long
Nikkie Whitehead
JR Richardson
Roger Morrison
Ben Leville
Luke Walton
Doug Brooks
Thanks to our sponsors and supporters: Fairfield House, Creative Communities Nelson, Just Costumes, Dick Smith, Bay Landscapes, Nayland College, FOOF, and More FM |
| REVIEW (Nelson Mail)- Audience entranced by actors' skill and humour | REVIEW: All the Fairytales You Know (And Some You Don't). Performed by Body in Space at the Fairfield House meadow. Reviewed by Alastair Paulin.
"This is going to be boring," mumbled my 9-going-on-16-year-old son as we found our way to a grassy spot outside Fairfield House.
But after the show, following two hours of laughter, groans and a giant waffle, he had changed his tune.
"That was really funny! It was awesome!" And it wasn't just him. His 7 and 4-year-old brothers had also been transfixed, along with his parents.
The venue helped. Sitting in the Fairfield House meadow on a gorgeous summer evening would have been pleasant even without free entertainment.
But mostly it was the energy and generous nature of the performers that made the night magic. The four actors were more than happy to make fools of themselves and take pratfalls for the audience's delight.
The cast presented the show as if it were a challenge to themselves: to tell 90 fairytales in 90 minutes. I doubt there were 90 tales and it took a bit more than 90 minutes but since the pace never flagged, no-one was quibbling.
From the Brothers Grimm to "nek minute", the show mashed up folk tales with pop culture in a way that entranced kids and adults. Cinderella featured evil step-sisters who danced to Beyonce's Single Ladies and for the older generation, there was a choreography nod to Dirty Dancing, with the prince as Patrick Swayze and Cinderella as Baby.
What kept the show from getting repetitive (a running joke was that most fairytales have very similar structures) was the spontaneity of the performers. The show was written by Daniel Allan and director Lisa Norris but it was clear that many bits had been improvised along the way. And when things went awry, as they will when kids are running in front of the stage and props go inadvertently flying, the sharp cast incorporated the stumble into the performance and didn't miss a beat.
Their improv training and comic timing shone through – they were able to judge just how long to milk a gag or how to extend it with nothing but an eyebrow between them.
Hamish Parkinson played a range of fools and fops with a manic intensity that made even the smallest joke funny but it seems unfair to single out any of the cast. Daniel Allan, Laura Irish and Roger Sanders were all excellent and the way they slipped from character to character with nothing but a change of accent or a scarf was impressive.
The show has been drawing about 300 people a night and has three more performances: tonight and tomorrow at 6.30pm and Sunday at 2pm.
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