Matthieu Perrin, framed his callousness in the guise of a vainglorious matador. This allowed the ensemble to flirt with paso doble and tango set pieces, which shifted in a heartbeat to torture houses as Vidal switched to a chilling authoritarian patriarch in a deft counterpoint to the disturbing fantastical monsters of Orfeus’s imagination. Frank Gibbons’ warped Pale Man, all writhing, twisted menace, cemented del Toro’s interpretation of the char- acter as the embodiment of institutional evil feeding on the helpless. Calum Skinner’s depiction of the Toad as a disruptor boldly showed us the grotesque; the character represents a cancerous growth and an ugly tumour of hate which is seeded in Orfeus’s mind as he strives to kill his baby brother to save his mother. Mercedes, the fairy godmother of the mortal realm, is Vidal’s housekeeper, a double agent for the resistance and Orfeus’s only ally. The role was delivered with expert detail and gentle truth by Will Bradley in his interpretation of the character as strong, nurturing, full of goodness and guts, pragmatism and courage. In this retelling we are caught between the inexorable ties of trauma and escapism, guided by the Faun and shown the similarities between the real and mythical worlds. The Faun, embodied by Wilf Patten, is neither good nor evil but a symbol of nature connected to the forest, a shepherd to Orfeus and at the centre of the mythical menagerie. This half-human beast acts as a catalyst to the protagonists’ adventures and Wilf’s interpretation seemed to come straight out of a dream or a children’s nightmare. His characterisation was both threatening and comforting, which strangely made him seem as ancient as the forest he inhabits. This was ensemble playing of the highest dramatic order from a group who had clearly researched and experi- mented with Rice’s approaches to emulate her skill. As David Farr from Bristol Old Vic states, ‘when you get innovative visual theatre allied with classical storytelling, you get something that audiences respond to immediate- ly’. Thus it was that the Year 12 Theatre Studies students delighted their audience of parents and peers with their presentation of this original piece, promising ever-greater invention as they hone and refine their already exception- al performance work as they move into Year 13. ◉
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DRAMA & DANCE
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