SILLY KINGS National Theatre Wales, Cardiff Castle 21December 2013

 Silly Kings poster image (landscape)

 

A Right Royal Romp For All To Enjoy

Silly Kings is based on the very successful Fairy Tales children’s book written by Terry Jones, one of the recently resurrected Monty Python team.

                                                                 Fairy Tales (Terry Jones) cover.jpg                                                           

Once accused of being the best rat-bag woman in the business (watch out for these loud, shrill, and dishevelled creatures in the show), Jones has been ‘blown away’ with the script without sharpening his pencil. Just like the stories in his book Silly Kings greatly entertains striking the right balance between a statement on moral issues and an absorbing and extremely entertaining romp. Katherine Chandler provides an imaginative adaptation of the work contained in Fairy Tales and Jo Davies’s dynamic but controlled direction ensures all the players and pieces of the show come together to deliver a night to remember.

As the story goes…’Once upon a time in a kingdom far, far away lived a princess, four crazy knights, an angry fairy, a dragon (of sorts) and a very Silly King’.

George ‘Orange’ Fuller, who one might reasonably describe as an eccentric and lovable clown, turned in a performance as the silly King Rupert that had you thinking is this man like this all the time in ‘real life’. He was so believable which gives so much credit to his acting ability circus skills.

 George Fuller

 Farrows Creative – National Theatre Wales

As far as one can tell Fuller is the only man known to man who has walked on the moon without leaving the safety and comfort of terra firma. If you think that’s bizarre then you need to see his performance in Silly Kings – they say seeing is believing, but be warned  this is a fairy tale, so will you believe all that you see?

All the cast had more than one part to play and the acting out of the different roles had to be, and was convincing. None more so than those that played the knights Iwan, Ieuan and Ioan and also played the robbers. Those tasks were the responsibility of Keir Charles, Sion Pritchard and Matthew Woodyatt. They also had other parts to play as the plot developed. Pritchard was particularly effective in playing FaIry One Step who was only capable of one wish because he was considered the lowest of the low in the fairy hierarchy. 

 (l-r) Matthew Woodyatt, Keir Charles & Sion Pritchard

Farrows Creative – National Theatre Wales

The fourth knight was played by Hannah McPake. She had arguably the most demanding variety of roles to play especially as she varied from one gender to the other until even she (or he) may not have been sure of her (or his) identity. She stood out for her overall diversity not only in the parts she played but also in her acting ability and musical talent.

 Hannah McPake

Farrows Creative – National Theatre Wales

The storyline featured Princess Fishy and Prince Derek (played respectively by Remy Beasley and Maxwell James) who were apparently destined to become star-crossed lovers and the cause of their unrequited love Prince Derek’s father King Rupert (Stephen Casey).   

Casey, who has a wealth of experience, played his part professionally including being affected by a certain speech impediment which one soon becomes aware is part of the humour and reminds the author of this review of a certain maths master he encountered in his school days who commented in his unique way ‘it’s pretty grim’.

Whilst Maxwell James’s role was constrained by an overbearing and snobbish King Rupert, Beasley’s roles as Princess Fishy and a butterfly were allowed to flourish to such an extent that she transcended the boundaries to give a performance that was cheeky and sad, bubbly and poignant and joyous and gloomy. Several other adjectives spring to mind but in the cause of brevity hers’ was the performance of the night.

 Tiger's Eye

The most moving part of the show was her solo rendition Best Regards. Its’ sometimes  hackneyed lyrics like ‘you’re the chips to my tomato sauce’ really worked in creating a feeling of poignancy that had the audience responding with a heart-felt round of applause – a real gem of a moment.

The music in support of the cast was generally of the highest quality performed by Patrick Dawes and Ashley-John Long and was supplemented by individual performances by some of the cast.

Things could have gone horribly wrong with the audience being at such close quarters but apart from some brief sound issues the performances appeared flawless, the production being underpinned by the creative team to help ensure the show’s quality and completeness. The audience itself was brought into play on several occasions. One of the most bizarre of characters was pointed out by a young lad in the audience who said to his mother ‘he looks like my uncle Brian!’

Most of the audience stood up and joined in with the cast as they played through the finale although in some cases standing up was a blessed respite from the benches and bales of hay. Notwithstanding this the seats actually added to the overall ambiance and cosiness of the spiegeltent and its hall of mirrors. It was indeed a magical setting of a Spiegeltent in the grounds of the majestic Cardiff Castle.

 

  Tiger's Eye                                     

 

Once the fun is over, and there is a tent-full of fun, it may be worth just taking some time to consider some of the messages the show attempts to deliver. One of those messages is if you receive something then you should give something back in return

                SILLY KINGS IS ONE OF THE BEST PRESENTS YOU COULD GIVE OR RECEIVE

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