Beauty and the Beast review – energetic cast make five a festive stageful

Stephen Joseph theatre, Scarborough
Nick Lane’s witty and rounded adaptation stars a no-nonsense Rosabelle, and manages to convey fear and fun with pop hits

If ever you find yourself in a scary place, the one you want by your side is actor Kiara Nicole Pillai. No-nonsense and bold, her Rosabelle – the Beauty to Oliver Mawdsley’s Beast – is almost comically fearless. Faced by a roaring horned creature with a feathery hide, she ignores his belligerence and tells him to get over himself. She teaches him what “proper mardy” means and he learns his lesson.

It is a quality Lady Maloria has not bargained for. Played by Annie Kirkman, supercilious, patronising and generally wicked, she is counting on the little girl’s fear to feed an off-stage sea monster and maintain her hold on the town of Scarbolopolis. In Nick Lane’s witty and rounded adaptation of the Madame LePrince de Beaumont story, a seaside town once known for candy floss and chips now specialises in hunting supplies. Beast tracking is big business.

At Stephen Joseph theatre, Scarborough, until 30 December

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/7jdEhBu

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Tadej Pogacar completes emphatic debut victory at the Giro d’Italia

Two years after Buffalo mass shooting, an art exhibit focuses on the victims

£1 Thursdays review – nightclubbing, sex talk and big decisions