The Lyceum’s Christmas shows have, in the past, generally provided something a bit more than the usual pantomime fare on offer at this time of year. And I have to say that has been very much to my personal taste.
This year, however, they move right into the panto style of performance, with the action to keep the children amused overlaid with large amounts of smut for the adults in the audience. So it became obvious early on that this wasn’t going to be my best enjoyed night at the theatre this year.
It takes as its starting point Hans Christian Anderson’s classic tale, and then sets about it with gusto, but not a lot of finesse. From the set, which seems to mirror the balconies of the theatre and only succeeds in bringing unnecessary clutter to the stage, through the musical score, which is fine in the context of the play but only provides one memorable song – “Quines Gonna Fight” – to the decision to replace the reindeer in Anderson’s tale with a pink-clad, mincing, farting, gay unicorn… I mean why? I thought this kind of sexual stereotyping had long since been left behind. And don’t get me started on the excruciating flowers, I’m trying hard to forget them.
OK, rant over. And if this does sound like your kind of night out, then there is a great deal for you to enjoy. The energetic cast do a great job, in particular Rosie Graham as Gerda, Naomi Stirrat as Senga the Robber Girl and the outstanding Samuel Pashby as Corbie, stealing every scene he’s in. And a special mention to Richard Conlon, an actor I have long admired, who makes the most of his role as Hamish the Unicorn.
I just found it such a shame that Anderson’s magical story has been reworked into something so much less than the original, particularly given that it is now set in Scotland in 1890, starting in Edinburgh and moving north. I would have loved to be able to shout its success from the rooftops of the Auld Toon.
Jim Welsh
Radio Summerhall Arts 