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Stars explained: * A production of no real merit
with failings in all areas. ** A production showing evidence of not
enough time or effort, or even talent, and which never breathes any real
life into the piece – or a show lumbered with a terrible script. *** A
good enjoyable show which might have some small flaws but has largely
achieved what it set out to do.**** An excellent show which shows a
great deal of work and stage craft with no noticeable or major
flaws.***** A four star show which has found that extra bit of magic
which lifts theatre to another plane. |
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Nick Morris as Prince Alexis, Charlotte Edwards as Princess Allegra and Chris Lambeth as Leonard, the wily fox. Pictures: Emily White The Heartless Princess Highbury Theatre Centre **** You might never have heard of the kingdom of Knut, a nation so little known it never even made it on to Donald Trump’s tariff table, but it does exist, at least in the world of fairy tales, and it is a place short on money, food and love, a country without heart, one might say. We grow up with fairy tales whether the dark fables of the Brothers Grimm, the lighter, at least some of the time, tales from Hans Christian Andersen, and even Oscar Wilde got in there with his children’s collection. They are part of the magic and rites of passage of childhood. And they stay with us, we know Cinderella could never go to a ball in a pumpkin pulled by six mice, that would be silly, yet still we believe, and that’s what fairy tales are, believing in something that cannot be true in a world where good prevails and the bad are either reformed or eliminated, good always defeats evil. A world as we want it to be. In Knut the problem is the Duchess Potassia, a hard as nails performance from Marsha Knightsmith, who has a downer on pretty much everyone with her loyal(ish) raven with its gold tipped feathers, Cawder, flying around and doing her bidding with Amy White happily winging it, so to speak. The problem is that whenever a pretty young girl in Knut falls in love and is about to marry she somehow loses her heart and becomes a melancholy mess. So, when the lovely Princess Allegra, heiress to the throne of Knut, played in carefree young girl fashion by Charlotte Edwards, is about to marry the handsome Prince Alexis of Lorenia, a union arranged when they were toddlers, and now played by the grown up Nick Morris, we all know it isn’t going to be a walk down the aisle, I do’s, kiss the bride and off down to the Knut Wetherspoons for cake and tea. This is a fairy tale remember, and jeopardy is the name of the game.
Ron Parker as the King, if he remembers, Charlotte Edwards as Princess Allegra, Sean Mulkeen as The Chancellor and Marsha Knightsnith as Duchess Potassia Technically in charge of Knut is its head of state, King . . . don’t tell me, I have it somewhere . . . Codling, that’s it, played by . . . er . . . Ron . . . um . . .Parker. The King has a memory problem in that he can’t remember pretty much anything apart from the fact he likes fishing, a sport that requires very little memory apart from remembering where the river is. He is aided by The Chancellor, who is probably eligible for an Arts Council grant for pomposity in the long winded, why use one word when I know so many others, hands of Sean Mulkeen. Then there are the palace staff, the princess’s Nanny, played by Yvonne Lee, fussing with very little purpose and then the Duchess’s lady in waiting, and you are waiting an awfully long time, Lady Amy, played, with all the speed of an arthritic glacier by Lorraine Smith. And fussing around them are the general staff, the Harlequins, Emma Foskett, Amy McDonald, Andrew Leigh-Dugmore and Phil Thebridge. With the Royal household out of the way we are left with the peasants, with Digit, the local, well something or other. He seems to be the palace guard at times, or maybe a forester, anyhow he is played by Nathan McNaught, and he has his own problems. He was about to marry Mary, the love of his life, played by Lizzy Small, except she woke up one morning, all melancholy, and rejected him, and according to Nanny, her heart had been stolen, just as her sister’s daughter’s heart had been taken . . . spotting a trend here are we . . . missing hearts, young girls . . . Which brings us to Leonard, the only fox left in Knut, the rest having been hunted and killed by the hang ‘em, flog ‘em, hunt ‘em, shoot ‘em Duchess, or they have emigrated to pastures new. Now, you might think of foxes as being nocturnal creatures marking territory on your lawn, eating scraps and raiding dustbins, but apparently, they can talk, dress in tweeds and whistle. Not many people know that, so we should thank Leonard in the most capable hands of Chris Lambeth for enlightening us.
Amy White as the faithful raven Cawder and Marsha Knightsmith as Potassia Mind you, when it comes to being clever it’s not all foxes claim, for example, they are useless at cryptic crosswords, and apparently Leonard has never actually completed one. Still, we are relying on him, and the banished Prince Alexis – banished after being accused of being a witch and using magic, magic being against the law in Knut – to save the day, save Princess Allagra and save the kingdom . . . and possibly complete a crossword. So basically we have a tale of an evil duchess, a corrupt Chancellor - thought it was about time we mentioned that – the Princess and half the population, living with no heart, a King who can only just remember to breathe in and out on a regular basis, a fox who struggles with crosswords, a peasant whose heartless girl has rejected him, two old biddies fussing around the palace and a Prince determined to save his Princess. Will the Princess and Mary, and all the other girls get their hearts back, will the Duchess get her comeuppance, will the King remember to . . . well anything really, will evil be defeated? Well, it is a fairy story, even if it is a modern one, or, dating from 1954, modern as fairy tales go, so we all know that everyone is going to live happily ever after, the trick being how we get there, good versus evil and all that. The set is almost a pen and ink affair, very much giving a black and white cartoon air, designed by Malcolm Robertshaw and director Nicki White, who tells us in the programme that the names of past members are in the bookcase, the names of set builders are hidden in the st and the story teller, Alison Cahill, who opens and closes the show is in a flowing costume decorated by quotes from Highbury players, making it a personal production to the theatre, which last performed it in 1969. White has utilised very much Edwardian dress for the cast which gives it a hint of Alan Bennett’s stage version of that other fantasy, The Wind in the Willows, which helps to give a traditional feel to the affair. The play was written by Franklyn Black as a panto, so whether it is the last knocking of Christmas 2024 or the first harbinger of 2025, who knows, but as a family show it runs into next week’s school holidays. In its own way it is a heartwarming tale mixing fantasy and humour with a moral message about virtue and the power of love – that’s fairy tales for you - with the cast entering into the spirit of this whimsical fairy tale which will be weaving its spell to 17-04-25. Roger Clarke 09-04-25 |
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