Rumpelstiltskin - The Stage

"With as much enjoyment for audiences who see the story on stage as there is frenetic backstage activity, Miracle Theatre steps back to 1830 to present Mr Samuel Ffitch’s portable theatre in this innovative show.

Centre stage on a storybook set, surrounded by a plethora of antique-style theatrical apparatus, four actors, accompanied by harpsichord music, play out a fast and furious tale. Doubling roles, they manipulate props, puppets and scenery, and operate lighting and effects with occasionally explosive results, Miracle Theatre’s eclectic and ingenious pantomime is great fun.

Superb imaginative touches underpin this tale of a rebellious princess, a long-legged dwarf, an inept but courteous prince with a host of certificates, and a gruesome forest fairy. Tom Adams’ Mr Ffitch declaims his speeches with accomplished style and wicked humour, while his impressive falsetto does justice to Steven Clarke’s ditties set to the music of Purcell and Handel.

Mechanical stage contraptions roll through tricks and transformations for a hilarious wood nymph ballet and a side-splitting routine by a mermaid trio. With a coy nod to period manners and etiquette, touches of immensely subtle, naughty humour have audiences in fits. It’s highly enjoyable from start to finish."

Anne Broom, The Stage