On Tuesday 13th November, I had the pleasure of seeing an re-worked version of Grimm Tales Adapted by Philip Wilson and Directed by Kirsty Housley at the Unicorn Theatre. At first glance, the set seemed to be smaller than I imagined it to be, for a play tackling the tales of the Grimm Brothers. However, by walking in you were transformed into a land of magic and whimsy, courtesy of the lighting and music playing. The actors played their characters extremely well, staying in character throughout the play.

The play starts with a family preparing for Christmas the night before, preparing food to cook the next day and placing presents under the tree. The children (Giulia Innocenti , Rachel Hosker and Enoch Lwanga) are running around the house, anxiously waiting for Christmas the next day. When the parents finally get them to bed David Emmings , who plays the father for this part of the play, tucks in the children and tells them a bedtime story called “Hans my Hedgehog” some of the actors acted out what another actor was narrating. They used the set to their full abilities, climbing on top of boxes, using costumes. After finishing the story, they also acted out red riding hood and Hansel and Gretel were also acted out. The actors play different characters, intertwining all the stories to one cohesive play. I have to applaud the actors and actresses on their ability to change characters so quickly. Afterwards, all of the villains “came to life” coming down the stairs while interacting with the audience and coming out of closets. The lighting heightened the experience while the children fought the fairy tale monsters. The screams coming from the audience shows it was effective and it also made my heart skip a beat.

The set then changes when the villains are defeated, and the backdrop becomes an extended part of the stage. This surprised me, but I was amazed at the creativity used to adapt the set. While I was watching the play, there were technical difficulties, but the cast and crew took it in their stride and repaired it during the interlude. As the show went on the extended part of the set resembled a forest, with Christmas trees littered everywhere. The tables are turned and instead of the children telling their stories, they became part of them when transported to this fairy tale land. The actors and actresses switch characters depending on the stories. More stories were told, becoming stranger and stranger as time went on.

Overall, I really enjoyed the play, I think it was well executed, engaging and an interesting twist of fairy tales originally by the brothers Grimm. The cast did an amazing job, and so did the crew. While watching the play, I was fully immersed into the story line, as had not heard many of the stories told during the play. I walked out of the theatre wishing I could see it all over again. While asking my peers about the play, they said this: “Been one of the best I’ve seen here” and “Amazing play, really put me in the Christmas mood”.

I highly recommend watching the play Grimm Tales at the Unicorn theatre relatively soon as it is only showing until the 6th January 2019. To book tickets go to the Unicorn website at https://www.unicorntheatre.com/GrimmTales. It is a play worth watching with the family to get you in the Christmas spirit!