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New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Theatre
A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
Cock
Restaurants
Kitchen W8 is a bargain for this area, if such sophistication is what you crave
Kitchen W8
Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects
This is a peculiar play and does not work for me. Some of it is very funny but there are real flaws
Alex has a strong powerful voice and was faultless, she is far better now than she was on the X-Factor
London,
Fiona Mountford's rating
Reader rating
Dir: Emma Rice.
Cast: Pieter Lawman, Mike Shepherd, Edith Tankus, James Traherne, Kirsty Woodward, Paul Hunter
Description: Kneehigh Theatre's modern fairy tale, a mix of puppetry, live music, animation and physical theatre, where a brave heroine fights for independence, and her handsome prince goes to hidden depths for true love. Written by Annie Siddons, directed by Emma Rice.
Phone: 0871663 2500
Website: www.southbankcetre.co.uk
Extra info: Air Conditioning, Food, Pub, Telephones
Some day her prince will come: Edith Tankus is highly believable as a feisty Rapunzel looking for her lost lover
Kneehigh's playful approach to narrative has spawned many imitators but few of these companies manage to get it just right. Even Kneehigh itself has occasionally been scuppered by its own technique but with Rapunzel, returning after a successful run at the BAC last Christmas, everything is wonderfully spot-on.
Crucially, the quirks of the production are never allowed to impede the all-important storytelling, which means no self-satisfied wallowing in cleverness for cleverness's sake.
The obligatory business with the long hair and the tower does feature in Annie Siddons's pleasingly robust take on this folk tale but it is all over and done with by the end of the first half.
For the second, feisty, independence-seeking Rapunzel must scour the harsh Italian countryside for her Prince, whom the machinations of her obsessively protective adoptive mother have driven away. Siddons offers a resonant account of rebirth and renewal, as well as the redemptive power of love.
Emma Rice's bouncy production has much to delight, not least an in-the-round staging in a reconfigured QEH that allows the actors vital intimacy with the audience.
Michael Vale's ingenious design starts with two versatile slatted wooden platforms, under which the actors whizz about on wheeled boards and above which a large red swing hangs to represent the tower.
It's suspended up here that the lovers conduct their wooing and, as played by the fine duo of Edith Tankus and Pieter Lawman, they're a believable couple with the sort of three-dimensional problems that cannot be dissolved by a handful of fairy dust.
Magic fans need not worry, however, as an articulated puppet pig with a stash of mysterious golden acorns tends to show up whenever things get particularly dire. An evening that will appeal to everyone, whether they're on school holidays or not.
• Until 5 January (0871 663 2500, www.southbankcentre.co.uk).
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
