Review: The Three Musketeers And The Princess Of Spain, York Theatre Royal (From York Press)

Review: The Three Musketeers And The Princess Of Spain, York Theatre Royal

4:15pm Wednesday 10th November 2010 in Theatre By Catherine Marcus

It is a truth universally acknowledged that children’s productions trying to reach out to the older members of the audience often wind up neither as fish nor fowl.

So it is a pleasure to report that The Three Musketeers And The Princess of Spain, is the real deal: a play that entertains, amuses and frightens both children and parents in equal measure.

Imagine a play written by Brothers Grimm, directed by Tim Burton and performed by Black Adder, and you might come close to the vision of Dominic Hill, director of this co-production by the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, English Touring Theatre and Traverse Theatre Company, Edinburgh.

If this is what the new spirit of theatrical collaboration is ushering in, then we should welcome it warmly, because this is quite simply the best family theatre production I have ever seen.

It took me into a world of derring-do, sinister forests, child-eating monsters and plague pits, and never once did I stop believing in everything I was seeing and every emotion it sparked. Emotions that ranged from amusement at Porthos’s belief that he was pregnant, accompanied by a truly surreal birthing, right through to knee-trembling fear when the child-eating monster looked close to living up to his reputation. The swashbuckling fights were better than any Errol Flynn movie, with D’Artagnan leaping across the stage in effortless bounds like a feral Peter Pan. Following in the tradition of Lewis Carroll, Roald Dahl and C.S. Lewis, Chris Hannan’s script reminded me of all the best and most memorable works for children – anarchically funny, shockingly sinister, profoundly moving and unflinching in the refusal to patronise its audience.

The Princess of Spain (Beatriz Romilly) is a powerful, spunky heroine who shows the Musketeers themselves a thing or two about courage. Porthos (Peter Forbes) is a portly Scottish queen, with a penchant for melancholy comfort eating, while Athos (Nick Astbury) is a clapped-out drunk with a bad case of hand tremors and flatulence. Aramis (Cliff Burnett) is an old lounge lizard gone to seed, trying his luck at the last chance saloon. However, when called upon, the bravery and brilliance of the legendary trio are astonishing.

The fact that the starting time of 7.30pm instils a seed of doubt in the minds of the parents, who worry that it might be too late for their little ones, is a small tragedy. This show has the legs to make it all the way to London, with the support it deserves. What the Theatre de Complicité did to bring theatre to life in the 1990s, the production may well be doing for the whole family with its theatre of movement, puppetry, strong story-telling and real collaborative heart.

The Three Musketeers And The Princess Of Spain, York Theatre Royal, until Saturday. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk