Hood!

The company of
ten attack the
tale with incredible energy, framing the story by taking the
role of wood imps who,
in turn, take on the various characters in the story. The young
cast prove very
skilled as they slickly guide us through the forest in a series
of simple set
and costume changes all accompanied by a capella vocals. Scott
Westwood is
particularly impressive as a wolf who is just on the suave side
of dangerous.

This version of
a classic
story works best when it begins to deviate form the original.
Rather than
catching the wolf sleeping and freeing Red and Grandma from his
belly, Tom
Dockar-Drysdale’s gruff woodcutter rouses the rest of the
villagers behind him
before beating the wolf senseless in a well choreographed fight
sequence. These
alterations in a tale we all know so well allow us to consider
the story afresh
and ask whether we blame the wolf for simply following his urges
and whether
the woodcutter gets a small amount of pleasure from the total
destruction of the
beast.

The echoes of
the piece’s
more child friendly past (it has been reworked for a late night
slot at this
year’s festival) are impossible to eradicate. The constant
returns to the
scrabbling wood imps become tedious and the journeys through the
wood feel
protracted to an adult audience. The underlying assumption that
in order to
make a story appeal to adults one must simply add swearing and
violence feels
patronising. It is hard not to be disappointed by this piece as
the clearly
talented ensemble could have made something truly grown up.
Sadly we only see
glimpses of the truly dark heart beating beneath the skin of
this well told
tale.