Showing @ Underbelly Cowgate, Edinbugrh until Sun 25 Aug (not 13) @ 15:30
At the heart of every good fairy tale lies a grain of truth, and so it is with The Wrong Crowd‘s Hag. Folkloric villainess Baba Yaga is a baddie with a moral code, and her dastardly doings are challenged when she enters into a competition with the seemingly fragile young Lisa. Hag is a classic battle between innocence and depravity complete with a dead mother, a wicked stepmother, horrible stepsisters, a weak-willed father, a child-eating witch and a vulnerable heroine.
The Wrong Crowd made their name on the Fringe two years ago with the similarly fairy-tale-driven The Girl With the Iron Claws, and one suspects Hag will have much the same audience. It should appeal to children as well as adults with its broad comedy and mild shivers. The acting is first-rate, although some of the caricatures portrayed are hammy to the point of distraction. But where Hag really shines is in the overall evocative effect created by well-judged combination of expressive sound effects, skilled mask work and puppetry, atmospheric lighting, and a pleasingly ramshackle set.
Comments