The Snow Queen @ Perth Theatre

Dec 9 2008 by Alison Anderson, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

PERTH Theatre is scoring a massive hit with audiences of all ages with its quality Christmas production – a splendid version of The Snow Queen, Stuart Paterson’s adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen tale of good versus evil.

Director Ian Grieve and his production team stage a hugely colourful and entertaining show, with tremendous acting, atmospheric music score and heaps of audience participation.

In fact, anything this crusty old crit can write is pretty useless in comparison to the reaction to the Snow Queen by the youngsters in the opening night audience. From the start, it was obvious they were captivated by the exploits and adventures of Gerda as she fought tooth and nail to rescue her best pal Kay from the evil clutches of the Snow Queen and save the world from being plunged in to winter for ever.

And while scoring a hit with children, Ian’s take on The Snow Queen also has much to appeal to adults.

The production skates along at a spanking pace, with many of the 13-strong cast having a busy time playing different parts.

The two outstanding attributes are the standard of acting by the ensemble and the wonderful costumes designed by Robin Peoples, who was also in charge of the colourful sets.

The cast is mainly composed of established actors, most of whom will be familiar to regular theatregoers in Tayside. Yet their performances in The Snow Queen are a delightful revelation as they shed their serious actor mantles for those of comedy, slapstick and excellent interacting with the audience – oh yes they do!

Amanda Beveridge does a lovely job balancing evil and glamour as the Snow Queen, ably supported by her sidekick, Cobweb (Kenny Blyth).

Claire Dargo captures the youthful exuberance yet steely determination of Gerda, adding some super comic touches to the part.

Best of all when it comes to energetic comic turns is Perth’s own Lesley Mackie, producing five-star performances as Peck the Raven and the soft-hearted polar bear. Brilliant!

Overall this is a triumph, and fully justifies Perth Theatre management’s decision not to stage a traditional pantomime this year. The Snow Queen dispenses with that awful panto feature, the principal boy, and other over-worn chestnuts, yet scores with an absorbing storyline with oodles of fun, an abundance of colour and the right amount of audience participation.

Minor criticisms are that musician Ross Ainslie is tucked away in one of the boxes and therefore out of sight of many in the audience, especially those in the circle, where it is also difficult to see some the comings and goings on the extended section of the stage.

The Snow Queen continues to cause climatic chaos at Perth Theatre until Saturday, January 3.

Perth-based musicians Ross Ainslie and Alan Sutherland are releasing a CD of their excellent Snow Queen music. The CD, available from Perth Theatre, costs £8.

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