Now, if you don’t know the Omnibus Theatre, you should. Huddled between vibrant restaurants and bustling bars on the North side of Clapham Common this treasure trove is a “space for arts and ideas, connections and discoveries.” When the Big Telly Theatre Company drop in it is a space for 'magick', superstition and sheer imagination.
This wonderful adaptation of Jane Talbot’s novel The Faerie Thorn and other stories, retains all of the lyricism and vivid imagery of the novel whilst adding that special theatrical allurement that only a live production can give.
From the moment the cast of five take to the stage, the pace, energy and charm of the production is relentless. The actors bound explosively around the stage taking on numerous roles seamlessly and with gusto. The audience are propelled into Irish folklore, whereby if you neglect the Faerie Thorn (lone hawthorns to us Londoners) you upset the faeries and bad things happen.
In this sense the production is not for the fainthearted – some of the tales are pretty grizzly. I never thought I would watch a man skinned live on stage or have his heart ripped out, but both were executed in a startlingly unexpected way.
It's impossible to single out one performer as they worked delightfully together, seemingly drawing more and more momentum as they bounced off one another making the audience laugh and cry at these new age fables.
This is an intelligent production, and praise should be given to the overall staging and artistic direction led by Zoe Seaton. There's much to absorb here: effective use of puppetry and masks; trapdoors in the stage open up to reveal the pits of hell; even the sound of creaking bones is recreated with the help of a stick of celery!
See The Faerie Thorn at Omnibus Clapham until June 10
