Beauty & the Beast (RSC)

First staged at the Young Vic in 1996, Beauty and the Beast has been revived for the RSC by writer and director Laurence Boswell following its initial outing at Stratford last year. And on this showing, it is likely to be just as successful.

The first thing to say about the production is that it’s darker than the Disney version, deliberately so. The Disney Beast, as Boswell remarks, is “loveable and cuddly”, the tone, “reassuring”. His aim, by contrast, is to strip away the sweetness and get back to the spirit of the original French version of the tale.

The other key aim is the eschewal of a “super-realistic” set in favour of simple props, backdrops and devices which encourage the audience to use their imagination. Fortunately the minimal set and props by Jeremy Herbert are imaginative and effective, while the costumes, by Kandis Kook, are stunning. The production also features singing and dancing to music by Mick Sands which ranges from reels to Sufi.

The play opens on a tableau of figures in black frockcoats, boots, skullcaps with white faces and sunglasses, evoking strong overtones of The Matrix.
They pull down the backdrop to reveal the family, home to Beauty, at the heart of the tale, dressed all in complementary white 18th century costumes.

All good pantomimes appeal to adult and younger audiences and Beauty and the Beast treads pretty deftly. There’s plenty of concession in the dialogue to younger members, peppered as it is with phrases like, well, “like, whatever”, copious references to farting and a classic fairy tale opening that begins, in time-honoured style, with the words, “Long ago, in a country far away”.

But with lines like, “I need a new horse for my whip”, uttered by one of Beauty’s less loveable siblings, exuberant performances and striking and witty visuals, there’s plenty to engage oldies, not least the dysfunctional nature of Beauty’s family, more Simpsons than the Waltons, to quote George W’s paw.

In truth, Beast doesn’t strike me as the scariest monster on the block, but then the Daleks used to send me cowering behind the sofa so what do I know? Frightening or not it all adds up to a Christmas show that has something for everybody.

– Pete Wood