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Philip
Pullman said he enjoyed seeing one of his fairytales come full-circle
at the Crucible, Sheffield on Tuesday night.
The
Firework-maker's Daughter started life as a way for the former teacher
to incorporate bright lights, loud bangs and eastern gamelan music
into a school play.
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| Lila
(Hayley Carmichael) shows her determination to master pyrotechnics. |
The
story of the girl with a passion for pyrotechnics became a children's
book by the Whitbread award-winning author.
Now
it has burst onto stage in a flurry of sparkling wit, colour and
humour with the occasional glimpse of darkness.
Lila
is the dishevelled but determined daughter of firework-maker Lalchand.
She
longs to follow in his footsteps, but he wants her to marry and
refuses to tell her the secret of the firework-maker's art.
As
in all good myths, this disappointment is the impetus for a journey
in which the heroine will encounter fantastical obstacles, rely
on her friends and overcome her own weaknesses.
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| The
hapless helpmeet: Chulak (Edward Hogg) |
The
energy and inventiveness of the Told by an Idiot company make for
a refreshing take on a classic genre.
Pullman
is a crossover author, whose cult children's books have a wide appeal.
This
production provides plenty of light, shade and moral complexity
for the adults in the audience.
Here
is a mythical land where the deadly consequences of failure are
very real and some of the more dramatic moments have the power to
make this grown-up whimper.
Hayley
Carmichael's gritty Lila is a thoroughly likeable and human heroine,
whose fractious relationship with the hapless Chulak (Edward Hogg)
is fallible and believeable.
Julian
Bleach also stands out as a master of wry understatement playing
the lugubrious - and lovelorn - white elephant Hamlet.
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| Physically
funny: Rambashi (Paul Hunter) and his merry band. |
But
the real star of the show in this ensemble piece is the imagination.
The
ingenious wooden stage is a blank canvas from which flights of comic
fantasy - and darker fears - can materialise at will.
Fans
of cult authors often complain when magical tales are made flesh
and fail to match up to the image in their mind's eye.
But
here the company's ever more creative ways to represent the ephemeral,
mythical and metaphorical make a virtue of theatricality.
Told
by an Idiot are known for their physical theatre.
Their swirling parachute silk goddesses, white elephants, scary
monsters, government spies and fiery infernos should remind anyone
of the sheer joy of escapism.
And
there's not a cliche - certainly not a fairytale princess - in sight.
The
Firework-Maker's Daughter is at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield
from Saturday 12 March to Saturday 5th April.
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