Review – The Light Princess

ZOMG TORIAMOSMUSICAL

This is an unusual thing for the blog because this is a show that I saw during previews and I’m actually going to be seeing post previews too, so depending on how much has changed I may add a postscript to this post or do an entirely new review. EXCITING THRILLING BLOG NEWS THERE.

Now, I was predisposed to like this show. I’d seen Rosalie Craig in the Sondheim trainwreck/masterpiece Anyone Can Whistle and thought she was amazing. I thought Nick Hendrix was brill in The Winslow Boy at the Old Vic earlier in the year. And my teenage years were spent listening to Tori Amos and having all of the feelings and loving her super hard. And obviously Marianne Elliot was directing and she’s pretty good at plays.

Unsurprisingly I loved it, and I think, objectively that while it’s not perfect, it’s still an excellent show.

It’s very loosely based on the George MacDonald Fairy Tale of the same name, but it’s drastically altered the plot, keeping only bare bones. The titular Princess Althea has lost her mother and her response to grief is to become light in every single way and so she actually floats. She is part of a desert kingdom at war with the evil kingdom of Sealand. Sealand’s prince lost his mother too and his response is to be glum and totally unsmiling. It’s very hard to work out what’s going to happen to these two star crossed lovers in this fairytale. SO HARD.

Obviously the joy in it is getting to the foregone conclusion and it is undeniably joyful. Amos has done a remarkable job with the music (ably helped by Samuel Adamson writing the book and co-writing the lyrics.) The music is recognisably Amos and recognisably musical theatre. It’s an almost through sung show (which appeals to me deeply) and although you’re unlikely to leave the theatre humming the tunes, the songs are very strong.

The cast is even equally as strong. Rosalie Craig is simply astonishing as the princess. The design is stunning and she is kept floating in a variety of ways which I won’t spoil, but what’s most impressive is how she sings her incredibly demanding part while upside down, back to front and very seldom actually standing on the ground. Craig is one of the actresses who’ve been known as rising stars for quite some time, and I should hope that this show will really be the breakout role for her because she’s just stunning.

That the rest of the cast keeps up with her is a fairly might achievement. Nick Hendrix is a charming prince with a  bit more depth than one would expect from a fairytale character. Amy Booth Steel gets to show off a stunning belt as Althea’s best friend Piper. Kane Oliver Parry has an absolutely beautiful voice and has some lovely lines with Hendrix. Special mention goes to Malinda Parris and Laura Pitt Pulford as a lady sergeant and falconer who both have real presence and do an excellent job making you care for relatively small parts. The only weak link for me was Clive Rowe’s King. The part he had was insanely challenging, with crazy jumps musically and a difficult tightrope to walk between comedy and pathos which he didn’t really manage. Now, I think this is partially the fault of the writing and this is something I feel may get ironed out a bit in previews.

The other significant problem is that the show is undoubtedly too long.  Towards the end of the first half I was wondering if there was actually an interval in the show, or if they were just going all the way through. I’m sure if it could be trimmed down a bit just to make it run a bit faster. That said, the show doesn’t really drag or outstay its welcome, but could probably benefit from a bit of a trim.

The design is absolutely marvellous. The costumes and set are really beautiful and there’s a very clear theme uniting everything together. There is a rather lovely fairytale aesthetic throughout and there are also brilliant puppets including an amazing mouse who functions a bit like the goose in War Horse (aka my favourite theatrical animal in the world BAR NONE)

A great part of the show, it has to be said, is that it’s mad progressive. The Princess’ gender is basically irrelevant to the story. She is expected to be a warrior and a leader and the fact that she’s a girl doesn’t come into it. She’s tough, brave and willing to fight if necessary and this isn’t a big deal in the story at all. Which I LOVE. IT’s a quietly feminist play as it’s not really loudly banging a drum about women’s role in society, it’s just showing women being amazing. There are also a series of magnificent stabs at the end which are spoilers but I’m going to mention them now, so avert your eyes!

In a prime example of Pairing the Spares (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PairTheSpares) at the end of the play the Princess has a single lady friend and the prince has a hunky younger brother and they walk up to each other and OBVS fall in love for forever. I absently mindedly thought “Wouldn’t it be great if the awesome lady sergeant and lady falconer paired up now too” AND THEN THEY DID. Which made me unbelievably happy. THEN to further my pink lefty joy, when everyone paired up at the end for a nice dance about there were boy boy and girl girl couples in the mix, which was really lovely to see. Then, in the epilogue we hear that the Princess got married and lived happily ever after but not until after going to university and completing a degree in marine biology ❤ ❤ <3. Similarly, you got a lady prime minister and her husband introduced himself as the prime minister’s husband ❤ ❤ <3. Relatively small things that really really made me like something I already liked even more.

I think that even though I was predisposed to like the Light Princess I think it is a very good modern musical. For me it’s competing with Mormon and Merrily for my top musical of the year, which I think, if I’m honest, is more because of me loving it dead hard than cold hard empirical reasoning (which I normally TOTALLY do on this blog). But I am seeing it again and so I’m going to have a chance to let my opinions crystallise and form better. WATCH THIS SPACE (in 4 months when I update the blog again).