Scotsgay Review - Edinburgh 2013

Theatre of Widdershins has been delighting Fringe audiences for the last eight years:  this year’s show hits the jackpot again.

As we enter the theatre, a magician in a multicoloured robe offers the children in the audience ‘fairy names’ – and already the children are drawn, laughing, into the show…  He asks them ‘what if you could turn things into gold?’ and ‘what is enough?’ and segues neatly into the tale of the greedy king, the girl whose father boasts that she can spin straw into gold and the wee man who rescues her from her plight – but at a price!

Andy Earey is an outstanding storyteller.  His puppets are splendid – the avaricious king, the drunken miller, the self-obsessed young girl, a wonderfully raucous dancing crow who morphs magically into Rumpelstiltskin, a delightful baby and a knight in shining armour who rides in to save the day when all seems lost – and their body language magnificent.  The set is equally magical: a few bales of straw transform into an inn, a castle, a dungeon complete with spinning wheel which really does spin golden thread: superbly atmospheric music heightens the drama at all the right moments.

The audience loved the show and participated with a right good will: some wee ones were obviously having the time of their lives and joined in enthusiastically at every opportunity.

Beg, borrow, or steal a child and see this show!

Mary Woodward