Rumpelstiltskin
\nby Rosemary Myers and Julianne O\u2019Brien
\nWindmill Theatre Co and State Theatre Company of South Australia
\nDunstan Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre.
\nOctober 14. Tickets: $ 28 – $64.
\nBookings : BASS 131246 or www.bass.net.au
\nUntil October 30.
\nDuration: 2 Hours including interval.<\/p>\n
Rumpelstiltskin<\/em> has just had an extreme makeover. In Windmill Theatre Co-\u2019s sensational new production, the goblin with a gift for spinning straw into gold is now the shape-shifting mastermind of the high-end couture fashion house, Rumpelstiltskin. He is surrounded by wily flunkies \u2013 Rat and Crow \u2013 but, because he is too \u201cfoul of face and fugly of form\u201d to be seen in public, he has a vain, dim-witted front-man promoting his much sought-after creations.<\/p>\n Writers Rosemary Myers and Julianne O\u2019Brien have retained the structure of the Grimm Brothers fairy tale with the three requests for magical transformation, the enabling of a marriage and the crisis of a stolen child, but in their overhaul they pepper the text with celebrity satire and pop culture patois. Instead of the traditional fable\u2019s miller\u2019s daughter, they introduce Harriet from Western Wangaroo, as na\u00efve as she is ambitious, who wants to make it in the big smoke and is ready to sell her soul \u2013 or give away her baby- to get to the top.<\/p>\n Director Rosemary Myers has gathered the creative team from Windmill\u2019s Pinocchio<\/em> to create an even bigger theatrical impact. Jonathan Oxlade, whose previous designs for School Dance<\/em>, Wizard of Oz<\/em>, Pinocchio<\/em> and Girl Asleep<\/em> have become Windmill signatures, has created a stylishly simple deco Looney Tunes sound shell (lit by Gavin Norris) in which the action takes place and upon which text, airbrush images and Chris Edser\u2019s magically fluid animations are projected. Oxlade\u2019s witty evocation of Friz Freleng cartoons, Matisse cutouts and 1930\u2019s graphic motifs is tantalizing, as are his audacious costumes echoing Mary Quant, 70s kitsch and Edith Head.<\/p>\n Windmill regular, Jethro Woodward\u2019s music is at his best. Song after song, from the poignant Breakable Boy<\/em> and Dumb Love<\/em> to the upbeat Life at the Top<\/em> and the Credit Rock Song<\/em>, demonstrate his range across pop genres.\u00a0 Baby Song<\/em>, the finale, a soul belter commandingly performed by Ezra Juanta, clinches the night.<\/p>\n The performances are terrific. In the lead, Paul Capsis in op-art costume and heavy framed specs, brings wizardly power and memorable pathos to the misunderstood goblin. He sings like Peggy Lee, cackles like the cast of Wicked<\/em> and galvanizes the show.<\/p>\n He is also well served by his associates \u2013 as Rat and Crow, Alirio Zavarce and Elena Carapetis smoothly deliver the satiric barbs and in-jokes while Matt Crook is hilarious as the Fake-Rumpel and Ezra Juanta is a scream as Baby. Michaela Burger excels as Tootie –\u00a0 whistled up by Rumpelstiltskin\u2019s magic, she sings superbly and dances too. Also essential to the show\u2019s success is Ashton Malcolm, droll and endearing as Harriet, who stuffs up –\u00a0 but deserves her fourth chance.<\/p>\n Murray Bramwell<\/p>\n \u201cA fable for our times\u201d, The Australian<\/em>, October 17, 2016, p.14.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Rumpelstiltskin by Rosemary Myers and Julianne O\u2019Brien Windmill Theatre Co and State Theatre Company of South Australia Dunstan Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre. October 14. Tickets: $ 28 – $64. Bookings : BASS 131246 or www.bass.net.au Until October 30. Duration: 2 Hours including interval. Rumpelstiltskin has just had an extreme makeover. In Windmill Theatre Co-\u2019s sensational new production, the goblin with a gift for spinning straw into gold is now the shape-shifting mastermind of the high-end couture fashion house, Rumpelstiltskin. He […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,17,5,16,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-36","category-adelaide-companies","category-archive","category-australian-texts","category-theatre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2726"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2727,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2726\/revisions\/2727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}