The Grandmothers Grimm is essentially a story about stories, chronicling the famous Brothers Grimm – Jacob and Wilhelm – as they travelled Germany interviewing hundreds of people to gather together Germany’s rich plethora of fairytales in writing. However, as this play highlights, there is more to the story that has been hidden by history.

Many well-known tales like Little Red Riding Hood and Sleeping Beauty rear their hairy and horned heads but there are also other obscure myths and fables presented featuring werewolves and donkey princes. The play details the fluid nature of these stories, since they originated in the oral tradition, changing as they passed from person to person, rarely written down. And as the play intimates, Jacob and Wilhelm edited the stories even further to suit themselves either for moral or populist reasons (an ongoing conflict between the brothers).

All of this unfolds via four performers who play four main roles – the two brothers, a woman who is telling them stories while they board with her, and the woman’s servant. However, they also play various other characters as they jump in and out of storytelling mode. Changing light colours are employed to aid these transitions and the actors play with versatile props and manipulate hidden costume features to convey bloody wounds and decapitations. Their ability to shift so quickly is impressive, particularly when alternating between human and beast.

One technique of miming to one another’s off-stage dialogue is engaging but it’s a pity this isn’t exploited more. Similarly, there are witty lines, great use of rhyme, and funny moments of physical humour but the play could be saturated with so much more of these. As it is, the format becomes a little repetitive – we see a fairytale re-enactment followed by an argument between the brothers and this runs in a loop. It feels like the play could end at any moment without consequence because there isn’t a looming complication to be resolved or a central question to be answered. The climax is much more engaging, though. The tone takes a darker turn and some grim truths are made more apparent. It just takes a little too long to achieve this impact.