Thursday 17 March 2022

THEATRE REVIEW: Gulliver's Travels - The Unicorn Theatre, London.


This newly adapted play of 'Gulliver’s Travels' is loosely based on the four books of Johnathan Swift. However, this stage play aims to fit Gulliver’s array of adventures into 90 minutes and make it fun, up-to-date, and accessible for children. The Unicorn Theatre is an amazing venue where performances are aimed at children and families, bringing theatre into the lives of children who would never have experienced live performance by working closely with local disadvantaged schools. It is always such a pleasure to come here and see the joy and wonder on the faces of so many children in the audience.


Where Swift aimed to rile up his readers and take swipes at society, this little gem speaks to the innocent. It is hard to imagine how the stories of miniature Lilliputians and a land of giants can be conveyed on the Unicorn stage but what a success this was. Many miniature sets, the use of live video, stage technicians, lighting and dynamic acting brought the story to life. All at a fast pace and props and sets moving in and out around the stage like an intricate dance manoeuvre.


To get the audience involved from the beginning we watched the four actors, Mae Munuo (playing Grace/Gulliver), Sam Swann, Leah Brotherhead and Jacoba Williams entertain us with their energetic dancing, groovy music and a video camera. Filming themselves and us the audience, encouraging everyone to interact.

 

We started our story in the home of Grace, who I imagined to be a teenager. In her desperate need to escape the hard reality of modern-day life full of chores and demands, finds herself on a ship on the high seas. Like Swift’s story Gulliver is shipwrecked during a storm and ends up washed onto the shore of Lilliput. Some very clever visual storytelling brings Gulliver into this world as a giant and the other three actors as the small Lilliputians. 


Gulliver is sent by the Emperor of the Lilliputians to meet with their enemies, the Blefuscudians, in an attempt to enslave them because of the way they eat their eggs! Definitely not true to the books, and if you think this play will be like the Hollywood film version with Ted Danson, then you will be surprised at how different it is. Not sugary sweet but a well written and modern production, relevant to the 21st century.


Then we are transported off to the land of giants, where Gulliver is captured and made to perform her singing and dancing, everyday, like some circus sideshow, for the Queen. 


These are a great team of actors, who bounce off each other and are completely in sync, are a joy to watch. I had previously seen Mae Munuo and Sam Swann perform in The Bolds at the Unicorn where they also performed at break-neck speed.


It was wonderful watching the younger members of the audience joining in. Some thinking it was like a pantomime. “Look behind you!” one even shouted; and “that’s terrible!” as a comment on the dancing taking place on the stage. All this added to the delight of the show and brought a few laugh-out-loud moments.


The original Swift stories were written over 300 years ago, and designed to poke fun, be satirical and absurd. Lulu Raczka has put her own spin on Swift’s controversial storytelling and produced a gem of a play. Suitable for all ages and such clever ideas that are portrayed with some modern video techniques. Well done to Jack Phelan for the video design, Jess Bernberg and Joshua Gadsby for lighting; all essential in bringing the whole performance to life.  A remarkable triumph for all involved. A good excuse to get back into London, take your family and enjoy live performance in an incredible theatre space, with a very good ticket price. 

Reviewer - Penny Curran
on - 16/3/22


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