'In this way I shall preserve many things that would otherwise be lost in oblivion. I shall find daily employment for myself, which will save me from indolence and help to keep off the spleen, and I shall lay up a store of entertainment for my after life.'

For James Boswell posts please follow the labels on the right.

This blog mainly contains reviews from the Edinburgh Festivals from 2008 to 2010 which I wrote for the Edinburgh Festivals Magazine. These reviews cover everything from comedy to contemporary dance; children's theatre to Handel.


Sunday 23 October 2011

Sleeping Beauty and the Time Lords Review

Sleeping Beauty and the Time Lords


Sleeping Beauty’s modern roots grew from the minds of the brothers Grimm. It was a tale thick with medieval nostalgia, murky forests and magic. More recently, as the Shrek series of films has highlighted, traditional tales have been adapted for more savvy and culturally clued up children.

Sleeping Beauty and the Time Lords continues this idea, introducing a time traveller to the mix, who bears many uncanny (but legally no) resemblance to Dr Who. This works surprisingly well in a futuristic setting, complete with lasers, cyborgs and ‘Sonic Screwdrivers’. Fairies are replaced by ‘Fighter Fairy Guardians’ and magic with science. ‘Oscillating’, ‘Perpetuating’ and ‘Insubstantiation’ all take the place of the more familiar Latin spells. It’s fairy tales for the Richard Dawkins epoch.   

The production frequently includes an eager audience, who get a chance to stand alongside the time lord to defeat the evil exterminators. It’s a show indicative of where children’s entertainment is heading; professional, intelligent and constantly entertaining.

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