This version of Sleeping Beauty
is closer to a nightmare than a fairytale. A girl grows up in a poor
family in Liverpool, England. She is the youngest of seven. Her father
dies. She gets farmed out to her grandmother who locks her in the
cupboard under the stairs. She steals and thinks it is so exciting to
be going in a police car that she waves to all the people she knows.
She meets boys who lead her astray. And she knows she is a princess and that prince charming will arrive - even if it is in the form of a medical miracle.
From the mind of creator and puppeteer Colette Garrigan comes a passionate monologue with shadow puppets about the loss of innocence and reality versus fairytale. It begins with Garrigan
addressing the audience, talking about a prince charming sitting over
there, or the woman with fair white skin next to me. All the classic
fairytale elements are there, and every so often a phrase or a line
makes another fairytale pop into my head.
The
Perth Concert Hall, normally a 1700+ seat concert hall home to
orchestras and choirs, has been transformed into an intimate theatre
that surprisingly, feels very cozy. Black cloths hang from the roof
enclosing the audience and creating a wide narrow stage for the
performance. If only the seats weren’t so uncomfortable, intimate
theatre would be a wonderful new concept for the hall to consider.
I was
beginning to wonder if I was in the right place when ten minutes into
the 50 minute act there were no signs of puppets. Indeed, Garrigan
is very much centre stage, and creates the shadow puppets primarily
from herself and various unusual objects on the table in the centre of
the stage. Forks become a forest, a toaster rack a shopping centre, all
projected onto the white semi transparent screen hung at the back. This
is not puppetry as most would know it, with only one brief scene using
small hand operated puppets that are ingeniously fitted into a
lampshade.
Now based in Normandy, Garrigan
was born in Liverpool. She speaks the Liverpudlian accent well, but
continuously drops out into various other accents, languages and
characters, creating a jumble of words and images. Her talk is like a
stream of conscious, racing and jumping across the stage.
It
makes sense (most of the time), and leads the audience quickly through
the Princess’s life from birth to the ‘defining moment’. It is slightly
crazy, unexpected and feels somewhat rough - but in a good way. I could
see that this character had really come from Garrigan, that she lived and breathed all these odd people whilst on stage.
The story ends with a fairytale happy ending. Mr and Mrs Hodge live happily ever after and have lots of kids. But do you believe it? Watch Sleeping Beauty and decide for yourself.
Compagnie Akselere Sleeping Beauty
Venue: Perth Concert Hall - Auditorium When: Tue 8 @ 4:00pm & 8:00pm; Wed 9 @ 4:00pm & 8:00pm; Thu 10 @ 4:00pm & 8:00pm Duration: 50 minutes Price: Full $30, Concession: $26 Bookings: BOCS: (08) 9484 1133 | Tickets available on the door, unless sold out prior to the event
Avenue Q to open in MelbourneFrom Broadway to the West End, and the West End to Melbourne…the wait
is over and AVENUE Q fans can rejoice that the Tony Award Best Musical
winner will finally be enjoyed in Australia.
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This version of Sleeping Beauty
is closer to a nightmare than a fairytale. A girl grows up in a poor
family in Liverpool, England. She is the youngest of seven. Her father
dies. She gets farmed out to her grandmother who locks her in the
cupboard under the stairs. She steals and thinks it is so exciting to
be going in a police car that she waves to all the people she knows.
She meets boys who lead her astray. And she knows she is a princess and that prince charming will arrive - even if it is in the form of a medical miracle.
