Review: Beauty and the Beast at Northern Stage
You can always rely on Northern Stage's Christmas show to get you in the festive spirit
A tale as old as time, Beauty and the Beast has been told in so many ways. This adaptation of the tale from the minds of Katie Mitchell and Lucy Kirkwood keeps its magic alive thanks to the fairies at the heart of the show, and combines contemporary and traditional ideas.
Northern Stage are known for their bold and fresh takes on classic tales and this production is no different. The story of Beauty and the Beast is narrated by fairy Pink (Helena Antoniou) amidst a battle with assistant fairy Cecile (played by the hilarious Lucy Doig). With garish costumes and excellent comedic timing, they stop, start, rewind and act out the story whilst also revealing their own story, which comes to its conclusion at the same time as Beauty and the Beast’s inevitable happily ever after.
Bridget Marumo plays a strong-minded and acrobatic Beauty who fights her battles with her sister Lettice, played by the hilarious Maya Torres from Newcastle. We wish there were more scenes with Lettice, but Maya has a dual role and is equally funny as Rabbit in scenes with Pink and Cecile. Beauty and Lettice’s father (Davey Hopper) is the first to meet the Beast (played by Bishop Auckland’s Conor McCready). While the fairies tell his story, parts are also told through shadow puppetry on the ‘Pineside Cinema’.
It’s in these moments that the show’s magic is most captivating – characters appear and disappear off stage and items and food appear under a cloche from a long table. There’s magic throughout, from Pink’s tricks with handkerchiefs and fire to screens showing what characters can see in the magic mirrors, and a ‘thoughtsnatcher’ machine revealing characters’ inner thoughts (and those of some of the audience members too).
It’s the story you know and love, but told like you’ve never heard it before, on traverse staging with snow, Christmas celebrations, music, magic and heaps of family fun.
