Review: The Snow Queen, Bristol Old Vic

All is not well in The Village of the Roses. A tribal seer/narrator with a distinctive Lapp-Scandi-Northern Snow vibe and topknot spells out for us that naughty children are disappearing mysteriously at the rate of knots, and that only two good children are left (a ‘the only children in the village’ situation?).

Kai and Gerda are polar opposites but the closest of friends. Kai isn’t a boysie-boy but likes ice-skating and dancing, much to his father’s disgust, while Gerda is a feisty daring tomboy-girl who feels protective of him.

This is the set-up of a quest that will see girl-power and the indomitable strength of a warm loving heart triumph over the coldness and indifference that sets in when the person you love best gets lost in illusion and becomes a stranger. Presiding over the opening sequence is a huge round distorting mirror that glares at the audience like the Eye of Mordor.

This metaphor of distortion and losing oneself in illusion is at the heart of Hans Christian Andersen’s enduring tale, and one that will ring bells with anyone who has parented teenagers – particularly boys – through their dodgy years. It also contains echoes of far older sources (archetypal Greek and Babylonian myths such as Innana and Persephone) where a protagonist has to descend to the Underworld to do some soul retrieval on behalf of themselves or a beloved.

This is rich and meaningful material that at first glance might not lend itself readily to adaptation into a Christmas extravaganza. However, while still preserving those deeper tenets, there is much to enjoy and celebrate in terms of invention and humour in director Lee Lyford’s take on The Snow Queen.

The show comes into its own more in the second half, with an arresting rap-style opening number in a set that has turned into a chilling dystopia. Design and performance come together nicely, too, with some amazing projected animation action sequences. The writing also moves away from somewhat pedestrian and sentimental central narration into more character-based wordsmithery.

In the lair of the Robber Girl – very ably played by Jessica Hayles, who turns in good supporting roles throughout – Robber mum and dad are a nicely mismatched pair of chumps (Joanna Holden and Miltos Yerolemou), while young apprentice actor Dylan Wood sneaks up and steals the show as Anton the Reindeer: a laconic Yorkshire ruminant with XXL antlers who is a mash-up of Eeyore, John Cooper Clarke and Morrissey. Anton’s tongue-in-cheek guitar-wielding tribute to The Smiths is a real show-stopper and well worth the price of a ticket.

There is some superbly simple puppetry at the beginning which feels naturally integrated – the puppets of Kai and Gerda as babies and growing children are beautifully deployed by the ensemble and a real joy to watch. However, the huge puppet of The Snow Queen seemed too literal and figurative to be truly convincing or magical – perhaps a more ethereal, transparent and elemental suggestion of her presence would have allowed us to suspend our disbelief more readily and be swept up more completely in the illusion of her chilly evilness: this is a show about illusion, after all.

All the ingredients of a good Christmas show are present in The Snow Queen, sometimes in overflow in terms of set, sound effects and scope. Less is often more in the theatre, though this is a show which at this early stage still needs to settle and find its flow amongst the many layers of action, elements and dynamics. Bristol Old Vic’s Snow Queen is a brave, ambitious take on a timeless tale that promises to become more entertaining and cohesive as it hits its stride and comes fully alive during its run.

The Snow Queen continues at Bristol Old Vic until Sunday, Jan 15. For more info and to book tickets, visit www.bristololdvic.org.uk/snowqueen.html