BLOOD ON THE SNOW | STAGE REVIEW
Four Elms, Newport Road, Cardiff, Sat 20 Dec
If I could get one wish granted this Christmas it would be to live inside the worlds created in Caroline Sabin’s head.
I wasn’t lucky enough to see her last site-specific production (a Christmas show, called A Curious Zoo, that was staged in her own home) but Blood On The Snow portrayed a mysterious world full whimsy, music and the darker sides of nature.
Arriving at Four Elms, a former Church taken over by circus company NoFit State and turned into a fantastic venue, we were shown in to ‘the parlour’. There we were met with a log fire, some beautiful decor and a bar. Quite frankly I would have happily spent the rest of my evening sitting in front of the fire with my drink, but much more exciting things were about to happen.
A man, who I’ve named ‘the groundskeeper’ in my head, entered the parlour and prepared us for our journey into the snowy forest. We were told that the beautiful and mystifying creatures we were about to see can have a bit of a fearsome side when provoked, and that the last audience got a few scratches after somebody’s phone went off (I’m a sucker for bringing theatre etiquette into the story so this story pleased me greatly!)
When we finally got moving from the cosy parlour we were lead through a fur-coat filled wardrobe and into the tree filled (real pine trees, you could even smell them) main room of Four Elms. Sitting on the floor seemed to be a woman-like creature in a green dress, knitting a red scarf.
As we watched her another of these nymph-like people entered the room, holding her head high with an air of authority, on a squeaky three-wheeled bike that was pulling along a small stage. Upon this small stage was a harp, that the first nymph began to play.
As she played we began to hear singing coming from the Church’s rafters, where a third dryad was hiding. This opening song was haunting with a magical air, and was a great introduction to the world we had now entered.
The show wasn’t this serious all the way through, however, as the rest of the ‘pack’ soon joined us. The mother of the group and the harpist remained on their stage as six nymphs scuttled around, throwing themselves about in unison, making unusual noise and picking out audience members to surround and shower with love.
The music and choreography was stunning, and the show was split up into ‘scenes’ that moved around the space. Without a word being spoken you could see the hierarchy of the group and the personalities of each of the creatures; there was the youngest who got pushed around, the powerful matriarch, the rebel, the wide-eyed and curious one and more.
The scenes flowed nicely and changed tone from spritely and fun-loving to dark and aggressive in a very natural manner.
There was only one ‘scene’ that I didn’t fall completely in love with. All the creatures sit down for some storytelling from the matriarch and, although the story she told about the world these forest spirits live in was beautiful, it was the first point in the show that was spoken rather than sung. This in itself I had nothing against, but it somewhat blindsided my and took me out of the show momentarily. I think these scene would have fitted in more seamlessly if the creatures had snuck in a few lines of unsung words earlier in the show.
Apart from that brief moment I thoroughly enjoyed Blood On The Snow. The dance was captivating, the music evocative, the costumes beautiful (seriously, Caroline, if you’re reading this and planning on selling any of those outfits after the show’s run do let me know because I will happily buy some off you!), the characters fascinating to watch and the world that was created was captivating.
I left Blood On The Snow having been gifted a ‘magic’ bean by one of the creatures, and looking at it in the palm of my hand I dreamed of living in a world designed by Caroline Sabine…if only I could.
words HEATHER ARNOLD
