ED2015 3/5 Reviews ED2015 Theatre Reviews

Fourth Monkey’s Grimm Tales – Little Red Cap (Fourth Monkey)

By Gemma Scott | Published on Thursday 27 August 2015

Fourth Monkey have taken this well-known tale, about a sweet little girl on her way to Grandma’s house, and interspersed it with a narrative about a young woman working in a care home. It’s an intriguing concept, but when you also add in Little Red Cap’s mother, popping pills and terrified of leaving the house, you’re left with a show that’s trying to fit too much in. Though the performances are assured, the menacing, white-faced chorus, ominously whispering the more portentous lines, feels a little dated, while the campy wolf is more panto than grown-up fairy tale. It is, however, suitably macabre, committing fully to the darker, more disturbing elements of the original. An ambitious project, no doubt, but maybe a little too ambitious.

theSpace on Niddry Street, until 29 Aug.
tw rating 3/5 | [Gemma Scott]