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Sleeping Beauty

Published Monday 1 December 2008 at 10:50 by Robin Duke

Anyone expecting this particular Briar Rose to break into a Britney Spears hit before pricking her finger and nodding off for 100 years is going to be extremely disappointed.

Anyone expecting another of this theatre’s intelligent alternatives to a much told tale will be delighted with its latest offering.

Director Kevin Dyer wrote the company’s darker than usual Beauty and the Beast for the Dukes summer promenade production and has employed the same tone for Charles Way’s interestingly deeper spin on what is too often a lightweight and flimsy story.

So make way for fairly frightening Tylwyth Teg forest fairies and Gareth Cooper’s nerdy Prince Owain who takes most of the century time span to undergo his rites of passage.

Rosie Armstrong and Thomas Frere as Queen Guinivere and King Peredur neatly mature from a tetchy and loveless childless couple into doting over protective parents - while Sophie Trott is a touchingly petite Beauty.

Best of all though is the introduction of Gryff (Karl Dobby) - a comical part man part dragon created by the far from perfect good witch Bronwen (Shelley Atkinson) much to the amusement of her better, darker sister Modron (Sally Evans).

Mark Melville’s music works well in his popular but far from pop production.

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