Exciting audiences young and not so young this week at Whitby Park’s Theatre Porto comes the story of Baba Yaga, retold for an audience aged 6 and upwards.
The play was originally conceived for Darlington’s Theatre Hullaballoo as a response to the curiosity for the original Slavic folktales aroused by Eastern European children newly living in the region. It was first performed in the spring of 2022 and returns this autumn in a slightly reimagined revival for a run both at Theatre Porto and a return to Hullaballoo.
Baba Yaga is the template for many stories and other characters, and is depicted in many different ways. To some she is a guardian of life and death while to others she is a stealer of souls and eater of children. She also provides the inspiration for the witch in Hansel and Gretel, and even found her way into art and music, with Viktor Hartmann’s painting of her hut on chicken legs being immortalised in Mussorgsky’s music.
In fact, the ornate clock-like house of Hartmann’s painting puts in an appearance among the panoply of props that decorate Bek Palmer’s deliciously detailed set design for the play. The contents of a ramshackle hut include all the elements for the interior of Baba Yaga’s isolated dwelling, but they are sufficiently broken down to enable them to transform into hills, valleys, rivers and high walls.
Director Nina Hajiyianni’s signature style of storytelling involves fertile use of the imagination to transport us on the journey of twins Girl and Boy. Displaced from their former home they find themselves in a ‘new place’ where the inhabitants of a walled town refuse them entry, leaving them to search for food and shelter in what at first appears to be an abandoned cottage, but later proves to be the home of the Baba Yaga. A cauldron filled with soup of an indeterminate flavour provides welcome sustenance, but are our intrepid travellers next for the pot?
Despite the ghostly voices of the souls of children (who seem to call out from within the rows of glass jars on the shelf) Girl and Boy are beguiled by the Baba Yaga until they nearly become her next victims. It is up to them to find the courage to outwit and banish the ogress, freeing the town of her thrall. Laura Lindow’s narrative takes many of the key elements from the folklore to create a new story that speaks about having the courage to stand up for those who are vulnerable, even when you yourself are frightened and in danger. It also offers a positive and optimistic take on the all too familiar theme of migrant people being moved on by communities who reject anyone unfamiliar.
Fran Burgoyne and Ben Galpin are Girl and Boy, blending fireside-style storytelling seamlessly with physical performance and mime. The Baba Yaga is never seen, but her presence is very much felt. From an opening that begins gently by developing a rapport with the audience, the play develops into a flight of fancy that uses our imaginations to join the dots. It’s clear from the reaction that this rapport is immediate. Only an audience of children would have the honesty to laugh quite so loudly at a line about Girl and Boy sharing the same nose, when a change in casting for this revival means they quite clearly share no such thing!
All this is underpinned by a splendidly atmospheric soundtrack, with hypnotic music from Patrick Dineen that is certain to haunt you on the way home.
It is testament to the success of the actors’ skills that a slight technical hitch on press night, which deprived the show of some of its sound and lighting cues in a couple of early scenes, went unnoticed by most of the audience – with these scenes perhaps played out in a deeper twilight than was intended.
It’s worth noting that the company, who often also make theatre for younger children, give an age guide of 6+ for this show, which contains a lot of dialogue and some challenging themes. However, the balance is well drawn, and the scares are accompanied by an equal measure of reassurance.
After a series of public and schools performances at Theatre Porto this week, Baba Yaga returns to Darlington’s Hullaballoo on the 14th October.
This review was originally written for publication by Good News Liverpool
Star rating: 4½ stars
 |
| Fran
Burgoyne and Ben Galpin as Girl and Boy |
 |
| Fran
Burgoyneas Girl - © Mark Savage |
Comments
Post a Comment