I steal from the greedy to give to the needy!
A cleverly fun and energetic performance all round!
Happy Sad productions present Little Red Robin Hood at St Augustines United Church, Edinburgh. Written by Amber Docherty and Roza Stevenson, the story explores the lives of Goldilocks Hood and Red Hood or Little Red Robin Hood as she prefers to be known as she steals from the greedy to give to the needy! Each girl was raised by one set of a famous trio – Red Hood by the three little pigs known as the Swine sisters and Goldilocks by the three bears. Separated at birth under tragic circumstances Red and Goldilocks do not meet until much later in their lives. Determined to create a sisterly bond they both look for ways to change each others’ lives however not always for the better.
This was a fun filled performance with just the right level of joy and energy. Fionn Cameron as Wee Willie Winky does a great job of warming up the audience and keeping the engagement going throughout. With little nuances and audience interactions Cameron makes for a great narrator and best friend to the leading lady Little Red Robin Hood. Vocals by both leading ladies are excellent. Maggie Goodhall and Cosette Bolt blend well with each other and their harmonies are on point. They match each others energy and balance well as a team.
The Swine sisters (James Phillips, Calum Philp and James Sharp) maintain a great level of silliness and slap stick aptly interwoven through their scenes. They deliver all their one liners with fast paced energy required for a snappy fun filled show. The three bears (played by Amber Docherty and Iona Wood) are cleverly casted as gangsters working for the Sheriff Wolf played by Marc Robertson. With the baby bear represented by a puppet (puppeteered by Docherty) gives more additional comical moments during their interactions. Robertson brings the right amount of panto baddie for young audiences striking the right chord which leads to great audience engagement during his moments on stage.
A minimalist set which at times lacked a sense of location and the level of pomp expected from a traditional pantomime set was missing, however it did not take away from the narrative. The casts energy moved the action along well and director Roza Stevenson makes use of a challenging space to the best it could be. They managed to still communicate the desired effect in each scene and during each transition.
Ellis Allan’s lighting design used shadows at the start for the narration and premise which was effective and comical with potential to be used more often. Maybe some relation to the Christmas season would have been a nice addition to the performance however, I feel the cast of Happy Sad productions did a great job in presenting the great moments expected of a traditional pantomime with well timed and cleverly chosen songs to accompany them. The audio unfortunately sometimes did overbear some of the casts solos fortunately they still coped well and it did not detract from the energy and flow of the performance.