Reviews: The Light Princess @ The National Theatre

The Light Princess

The National Theatre - October 10, 2013

            Last night I saw an amazing production. Last night I saw an amazing production of a horrible show. I like Tori Amos, don’t get me wrong, the woman has 8 Grammy nominations, she’s obviously talented, but perhaps some song-writers shouldn’t attempt to write musicals. However, the visuals were well worth the ticket prices and then some.

             Before the show even starts, from the displayed on the stage and covering the main curtain, we are aware that we are about to watch a Fairy Tale. A brightly colored set displaying the Golden Kingdom of Lagobel and the Blue Kingdom of Sealand, divided by a Green wilderness, along with an explanatory song, sets the stage for this Fairy Tale. And like many of its magical predecessors, we begin with the death of a mother (or two). The Prince of Sealand reacts with heavy grief that prevents all joy and smiling, whereas as Princess Althia of Lagobel refuses to be brought down by grief and subsequently begins to float and can take nothing seriously.

            It is a simple story, yet difficult to follow. It’s simple because the story is Romeo and Juliet with emotionally stunted teenagers, it’s difficult because the songs go nowhere and accomplish nothing. This is not uncommon in many musicals, but in most of those musicals, there is dialogue to fill in the gaps. We did not get that stroke of luck.

            The music wasn’t entirely unpleasant, though. While every song, running around 5-8 minutes, was probably 9 minutes too long, the singing was excellent. Nick Hendrix, as the somber Prince Digby, adds beautiful depth with his warm tenor vocals to an otherwise 2D character. As The Light Princess Althea, Rosalie Craig must be commended for maintaining beautiful and strong vocals in whatever position she happens to be floating in at that moment.

            In fact Rosalie Craig’s performance alone deserves great acclaim, as The Light Princess who’s feet never touch the ground, I can’t imagine how much training she had to undergo before setting foot off stage. I wont go so far as to describe the amazing ways that the creative team devised to keep her feet from the floor – but I imagine that a lot of strength training was involved. Then, on top of all that floating, she still manages to belt at every angle possible, even upside down.

            The set, the lighting, the creative twists that Marianne Elliot utilized to tell the story, as well as the puppetry element, were all-excellent. Visually, The Light Princess is a masterpiece. Now, whether or not you want to sit through 3 hours (yes, 3) of uninteresting melodies and conversations that lead nowhere in particular, that’s up to you.