THEATRE REVIEW: The Snow Queen - The Storyhouse, Chester.

A modernising of the Hans Christian Anderson favourite, 'The Snow Queen' has arrived at Cheshire's flagship theatre, The Storyhouse in Chester.

On entering the auditorium I had a surprise. The whole stage had been hydraulically lifted to be on a level with the circle seats, meaning that which would normally be the circle was now the stalls, and that which would have normally been the grand tier, was now the circle. This made the space much more intimate although it also meant that a large number of unused and unavailable seating was underneath us all. The stage was set simply but effectively with the band on two platforms raising outwards to the rear of the stage, whilst the majority of the forestage was covered in a circular frozen mirror / lake. 

This adaptation of 'The Snow Queen' by Charles Way is not a particularly inspiring one, and so much onus has been placed on the part of the actors to bring as much life into these words as possible. It is also written as a Fringe / Studio Theatre play, and here, performing it in this reduced main house setting was perhaps a wise idea. The play wouldn't have worked on the main stage proper. 

8 actors and actresses were required to perform all the varied and multifarious characters that peopled this production, and with three of them remaining constant throughout, it meant that five truly had their work cut out! Will Kirk, Kate Malyon, Tom Richardson, Chloe Wade, and Flo Wilson all deserve credit for their many costume and character changes. My personal favourites were Wade's Robber Girl and Tom Richardson's elderly reindeer. 

The three protagonists were Rosemarie Akwafo and Taona Matope as the children Gerda and Kai respectively, whilst the wicked Snow Queen was performed by Lucy Tuck.

In this evening's production there was much focus on the technical and spectacle. The Stage Management team truly never stopped. SFX, FX, and LX were more or less non-stop, with more things coming down from the flies on each scene. It was certainly a visual spectacle. I did wonder though, just how the play would have looked / worked without it all. Take away all the gloss and the glam, and we were not left with very much at all sadly. Clever use of a trap door, and theatrical magic made this show much more entertaining.

There was one moment in the second act which truly spoiled the show though, in this reviewer's opinion. The play and story was pleasant enough, and we were watching it play out in front of us. There was most definitely a 'fourth wall' in place throughout; until half-way through the second act, when suddenly the house lights came up, and we were in panto mode... the cast asking the audience for dance move suggestions...and this came out of nowhere. With the audience being predominently adults, the suggestions were very thin on the ground too.

I am still trying to decide just exactly who the play's target audience is. This evening's audience was made up of primarily adults; I would estimate that less than one tenth of the audience were children, and majority of those were girls. I took time on occasion to watch the audience's reactions rather than the action on stage, and it truly was very mixed. The parts the youngsters engaged in, were not necessarily those which the adults laughed at, and some adults simply sat po-faced and unmoved the entire evening. The talking flowers were fun, the Robber Kingdom of Forever Autumn was well done, however no-one laughed or engaged with the Summer sequence sadly; all the children I watched during this time were hating it. 

Akwafo and Matope are both adult performers, and yet they are acting down here. However, it was impossible to say what age they were supposed to have been - I imagine preteen, but their acting was of mid-teens at best, and neither managed to engage their 'peers' in this evening's audience at all. And what was most interesting was that those who gave a standing ovation were a selection of adults. I didn't see any child or family stand to applaud at the end. 

Obviously much work and consideration has gone in to making this entertainment for families at Christmas, but if this evening's performance is anything to go by, it falls somewhat flat. The music is unmemorable and very folk-inspired, whilst the characterisations are mostly monodimensional. 

A very mixed bag which garnered mixed reactions, this is obviously very much a Marmite show.

Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 13.12.22