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Photos - Prudence Upton

The Red Shoes is a dark and delicious tale about desire, temptation and punishment. Based on the story by Hans Christian Anderson, Cornwall’s Kneehigh Theatre have adapted the tale – staying true to the original story but throwing in just the right measure of poetic license.

From a slow start, this production suddenly picks up speed and captivates one’s imagination taking the audience from mime, to comedy, to dance, to darkness and back again.

Watching the actors stripped down to their shaved heads and grubby underwear, its not hard to comprehend that all this creativity began in an isolated barn, the home of Kneehigh Theatre, on the Southern coast of England. Special effects are kept simple but clever, and the grim looking characters (who carry the weight of a harrowing tale) make the perfect canvas for costume changes.

The actors in The Red Shoes are a versatile bunch with impeccable timing. Though the set is fairly sparse, the cast carry on the props and rotate through various characters producing an ever-moving, ever-changing and captivating scene. I was impressed by tiny nuances of the actor’s faces – which so cleverly and humorously mimed their various thoughts and character traits.

It’s hard to believe that this sometimes, gruesome tale was ever meant for children. Clearly this adapted version is of the adult-only variety. The Red Shoes is the story of a young orphan who inherits a pair of shoes that become cursed and cause her to dance incessantly, leading her to a life of misery. What is an extraordinarily sad tale is kept bearable by the comedy throughout the script. Narrated by a drag queen and supported by funny little antics by the male characters, it’s hard to know whether to laugh or cry when you see the torture on the face of the heroin.

Keeping up a tremendous amount of energy, the cast dance and perform their way through a 90 minute production with no interval. Patrycja Kujawska, playing the young orphan, is astounding in her boundless energy as she dances and dances and dances.

Two musicians seated on the sides of the stage supported the actors - as well as recorded music and sound effects. The musicians were cleverly dressed in the same grubby attire as the cast to blend seamlessly with the performance.

The adaptor and director Emma Rice admits to an obsession about The Red Shoes, but what is clear is that she has developed a love of the heroine and in doing so decides not to seal her fate one way or another, but leaves the audience with a sense of hope and the ability to decide the girl’s end.

Kneehigh Theatre started over 30 years ago from humble beginnings and has now grown to entertain international audiences offering what they describe as “inventive, brave, anarchic, cheeky, funny, magical and daring theatre “ – which is certainly what they deliver.


2011 Perth International Arts Festival
The Red Shoes
Kneehigh Theatre
Based on the story by Hans Christian Andersen

Adapted and directed by Emma Rice

Venue: Octagon Theatre, The University of UWA
Dates: Fri 11 - Sat 19 Feb 2011

Duration: 1hr 30min no interval
Tickets: $47.50 - $36
Bookings: 6488 5555