Little Red Riding Hood, Birmingham Rep, Review

Post

Subscribe

Thu 07 Dec 2023 - Sat 06 Jan 2024

With Birmingham Rep’s house production The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe carrying an age recommendation of six, the theatre has designated its smaller Door space for a different show aimed at younger children.

Little Red Riding Hood has been created at The Rep for youngsters aged three to six and, with a simple story, colourful set, music and songs and loveable characters it is ideal for that age group.

With a running time of just under an hour and a fairy tale which is so straightforward writer Katherine Chandler has fleshed out the characters and the story so that we watch Red, played with childish charm by Siobhan Cha Cha, grow from a baby.



Red is eager to explore the forest around her home but is held back by her fiercely protective Nana, played with lots of warm humour by Nisha Anil. Terrified she will lose her granddaughter, Nana ensures she can be spotted through the trees with a succession of scarlet hairbows and ultimately her red riding hood.

It is only when Nana becomes ill that she will allow Red to visit the forest but with a clear set of instructions and directions – which Red rapidly forgets, calling on the audience to help her find her way.

With an audience so young, Ben Simon’s Wolf is less scary and more just a bit daft. He’s full of humour as he attempts to trick Red, first in the forest and then lying in bed having eaten her Nana. It helps that Simon has, until that point, been the friendly and fiddler-playing narrator and he is still recognizable to the children with his wolf costume. In fact, Chandler is so confident audiences will like the not so Big, Bad Wolf that he lives on to see another day – with Red and Nana tying his hands and mouth and scaring him off so he can’t eat any other children.

Directed by Caroline Wilkes and designed by Deborah Mingham, the production is small but perfectly formed. The Door has been transformed into a magical forest created by a wall of decorated green umbrellas that extends into the corridor leading up to the theatre space.

The forest world is recreated with suitcases full of flowers, butterflies and dragonfly puppets and a lot of imagination. And, once Nana and Red have been swallowed whole, the bed is transformed into a section of the wolf’s stomach from which they have to escape.



This production of Little Red Riding Hood clearly delights the children in the audience who respond with enthusiasm when invited to participate or shout instructions. With so much festive theatre aimed at older children, it’s encouraging to see a production specifically tailored for young children that has so much imagination and fun.

The show features some Makaton signing but there are also specific British Sign Language interpreted performances, captioned performances, relaxed performances and audio-described performances, see the website here for dates and details.

#family
#christmas
#reviews
#theatre
#arts_culture

%wnbirmingham