Dance
The Little Mermaid
Festival Theatre, Edinburgh
Mary Brennan, four stars
BETWEEN the lines of Hans Christian Andersen’s Little Mermaid lurks the warning ‘be careful what you wish for...’ In Northern Ballet’s new staging of his fairytale – choreographed by artistic director David Nixon – that cautionary note haunts every step that mermaid Marilla so painfully takes for true love.
Underwater, Marilla (Abigail Prudames) epitomises high-spirited wonderment and carefree grace. Nixon’s pale aqua-hued costume designs for the sea folk float gauzily with every move, the high lifts that swoop Marilla and her mermaid sisters across the stage conjure a quite magical illusion of weighlessness which – allied to the lilting Celtic surges in Sally Beamish’s music – suggests this is Arcadia below the waves. But then Marilla falls head over gossamer tail in love with a human, Prince Adair (a dashingly athletic Joseph Taylor). Her wish to be with him on-land (and have functioning legs) brings not just heartache, but physical agonies and ultimately fatal self-sacrifice.
Watching Prudames expressing a naive passion for a man who is only ever kind to her, is so harrowing you almost resent his happiness with a bride (Dreda Blow) who can join in the swaggering, reeling ensembles of wedding celebration – men in kilts, women in earthy reds and russets – or soften into a private waltz when the couple are alone.
It’s not just the costumes that define the different worlds. Nixon’s choreography – like Beamish’s specially commissioned score – shifts persuasively between the fluidity of the undersea realm and the more grounded energies on land.
And yet...there are also tantalising echoes in the Prince’s duets with Marilla, of their first encounter when she rescued him from drowning, and thereafter cherished his life above her own. Ingenious set designs, atmospheric lighting, exceptional performances - from live musicians and dancers alike – make you wish you could see it all again. Be warned – you’ll have to head to Milton Keyes for that!
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel