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Stage Review: The Enchanted Circus of Grimm

Shanghai Repertory Theatre explores what comes after happily ever after with their latest, "The Enchanted Circus of Grimm" at the Ke Centre.
Last updated: 2015-11-09


Ah, women in drag, men dressed as cows, former soap stars doggy-paddling their hardest against the looming tides of career oblivion... it must be Christmas. Always innovators, Shanghai Repertory Theatre strive to subvert these and other dismal traditions of festive theatre with their latest offering, The Enchanted Circus of Grimm -- a fairytale-inspired almost-pantomime running at Ke Centre for the Performing Arts until December 18.

Based on a new script by Audrey Murray and directed by Pauline Sun, the premise of the piece is that characters' lives extend beyond their happily ever afters. What happened to Red Riding Hood once she’d had her run-in with the wolf? What about Gretel -- where to next after brutally pushing an OAP into an oven? The play finds an assortment of troubled favourites from the classic Grimm Brothers tales living out their post-story days as members of a travelling circus troupe, presided over by a cackling, camptacular wicked queen (Natasha Portman).

Sounds like it could be pretty good, right? Well, yes, it could be. And that’s the trouble. Borne up by the efforts of a brilliant cast, this production comes very close to fulfilling its sizeable potential, but manages to fall just a little bit short -- in spite of managing to get so much exactly right.

Topping the list of those right things is the aesthetic glory that the play presents. Yes, glory. As anyone who saw their remarkable production of Twelfth Night can attest, SRT are never ones to scrimp on style. A shot of the stage taken at any point would make perfect sense framed on your wall, while even the way some of the actors move -- most notably Meredith Yarbrough (the Dancing Princess) and Richard Bochniak (Rumpelstiltskin) -- is mesmerizing to watch. The minimalistic set incorporates weird and wonderful shadow play, with dancing silhouettes providing a richly atmospheric background to many of the scenes. As with ‘Twelfth Night’, the costumes too are spectacular -- in themselves almost reason enough to buy a ticket. One of the greatest delights of the play, in fact, was seeing the entire cast assembled for their final bow in their beautifully detailed outfits and makeup.

The most visually arresting points, however, have to be the dance scenes. The first one came as an entirely unexpected pre-intermission treat; a flawlessly choreographed number featuring the inspired pairing of pint-sized Red Riding Hood (Rosita Janbakhsh) and the less-than-pint-sized Robber Bridegroom (Charlie Mayer - if you've been to a few Shanghai shows, it's likely you'll recognise him as "the really tall one", and probably also as "the really great at acting one"). The dances in the second half were similarly striking, and taken together these scenes represent the clear highlight of the show.

All this, and yet it’s hard to deny that this production does suffer from something of an identity crisis. Although the auditorium contained approximately twenty million kids on a school trip, the play frequently seemed too grown-up for children and not entirely grown-up enough for grown-ups. While it did keep a fair number of the younger audience members sufficiently engaged to get involved during the post-show Q+A, the dialogue lacked the momentum necessary to hold most youthful attention spans, and the vaguely existential deliberations of the characters never quite reached a point that would resonate with adults.

The Enchanted Circus of Grimm is certainly more than worth a look; but do go into it with the knowledge that its looks could be the main draw. The concept is excellent, the execution is mostly excellent and your visual appetites will be fully sated. Somehow, though, there's a silliness in watching Red Riding Hood ponder the nature of her being which could only be negated by either a sizeable injection of darkness or a valid philosophic point; both of which this play plainly reaches for, but never quite reaches.





The Enchanted Circus of Grimm runs until December 18 at the Ke Ceter. Click here for show details.

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