Bluebeard: A Fairy Tale for Adults

With an aesthetic reminiscent of Fringe favourites Little Bulb, Milk tell a fairy tale full of darkness and ribald humour using song, dance, physical theatre and projection.

The story is that of the misogynistic Bluebeard and his three too-curious wives, but beyond that, there’s not much more I can say. Not because the show involves a denouement that it would be unfair to reveal, but because despite the company’s playful and entertaining exploration of fairytale motifs, both naughty and nice, plot is not a strong point of this show.

Milk present some charming ideas and beautifully theatrical images, but too much time is spent creating these moments, at the expense of storytelling, and we are left wondering what the show is actually trying to say.

Like so much work by inexperienced young devising companies, this production feels rudderless and very much in need of the guiding hand of a director from outside the circle of performers. There are lots of lovely ideas here, but the show lacks the narrative structure necessary to let them really shine.

If Milk can find a way of harnessing their creativity and distilling their mish-mash of ideas into something with proper narrative drive, wonderful things could come of this company. At the moment though, their work makes for a distinctly dissatisfying experience.