Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Hansel And Gretel: the stories collected and published by Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm in the 19th century are so universally told and retold, that we all have a myriad of memories associated with them. Whether you came to them through the original Brothers Grimm Collection, Walt Disney’s or Terry Gilliam’s films or Sondheim’s Into The Woods, these are stories that somehow manage to reveal the basest human motivations while enchanting audiences of all ages, across all ages since. And more recently, Philip Pullman’s Grimm Tales, the stage adaptation of which arrives at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff this month.
In 2012, Philip Pullman, author of the phenomenally successful His Dark Materials series, was challenged to pick around 50 of the original stories to retell in his own style. Pullman, so inspired by the mythos of religion and the power of collective narratives in his own writing, wanted to tell the tales “as clear as water” – staying true to the plain speaking of the Bavarian residents who first told the tales to Wilhelm and Jacob.
Within two years, writer Philip Wilson had adapted Pullman’s Grimm Tales retelling for the stage and, using a multi-rolling cast, music and puppeteering, the play was staged on the South Bank in 2014. Alongside the big three named above, Wilson adapted, amongst others, Iron Heinrich, Thousandfurs and The Three Snake Leaves to show the range of Pullman’s choices and the depth of the original collection of tales.
See Philip Pullman’s Grimm Tales in Cardiff
Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, Sat 4-Fri 10 Dec
Now, directed by Cardiff’s own Jac Ifan Moore, the cast of the Royal Welsh College Of Music & Drama are staging a new production. Featuring students from the third year of the drama course, this promises to be a show full of the promise and vulnerability that a young cast would give to these fixed roles, now rendered fluid by their dramatic setting. But within the academic context of the performance, these will be actors reaching to achieve and to prove their worth, with the talent and confidence to back up their ambitions.
Step into the woods but don’t forget to leave a trail to follow back out. This production is for ages seven and up, and Pullman didn’t pull his punches the way Walt did.
Royal Welsh College Of Music & Drama, Cardiff, Sat 4-Fri 10 Dec
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words JOHN-PAUL DAVIES
