Disenchanted –The Living Record Festival

Disenchanted bills itself as ‘a cabaret of twisted fairy tales’ which sounded right up my street. I find the history of fairy tales fascinating; there’s the darkness that lies at the heart of the original tales, which were sanitised to appeal to younger audiences and delivery that Hollywood happy ending. Tales which have been popular in their current incarnations for decades but are now beginning to lose their relevance in modern society where not every little girl is encouraged to wait around for a handsome prince to come and save her. I’m also a fan of work that approaches a well-known narrative from a fresh point of view – the brilliant children’s book There’s a Wolf in My Pudding does this excellently.

So, I couldn’t help but be a little bit disappointed by Disenchanted. We’re greeted by the Godmother of Fairy Tales who promises us a series of special guests who want to tell their side of a classic story. Each guest, the Godmother and her Magic Mirror are all portrayed by the show’s writer, Eliane Morel. Morel is clearly a very accomplished writer and performer – she gives each character a different foreign accent and each of their stories is delivered though the medium of song. Morel performs as principal Mezzo Soprano in Sydney-based boutique opera company, Opera Bites, so her talent is considerable, but while I thought her delivery was impressive, it wasn’t enjoyable enough to keep me entertained for an hour. I also found myself wondering who the show was aimed at – I felt too old to be the target audience as it felt more like a fun, quirky children’s TV programme. Morel definitely has that frenetic kids’ TV presenter energy that makes parents wince on a Saturday morning, and the animation and graphics used are pretty good if not a bit crude/childlike. The show was originally developed to be performed on stage, so Morel has done well to adapt the production for streaming, and it may be that in this new format some of the live charm has been a bit lost.

Some of the ideas explored are original and fun – was the wolf in Red Riding Hood’s Grandma’s bed because they were having some kind of romantic tryst? – but this wasn’t the case across the board, and sadly not so original and fun that this would be something I’d recommend. Not to a friend, anyway – but I can definitely see this appealing to a younger audience.

Reviewer: Zoё Meeres

Reviewed: 27th January 2022

North West End UK Rating: ★★