REVIEW: Three Little Vikings, Rotherham Civic
IT’S A beautiful day outside but, inside Rotherham Civic Theatre, a young audience (and their grown-ups) are being transported back to an old Norse village – where mysterious things are afoot.
Chickens are going missing, forest trees are falling down, and there’s crashing and bashing in the night.
Three Little Vikings is an irresistible stage-show ode to childhood friendship, fearlessness and female fortitude all wrapped up in folklore and fun.
The trio in question are Wren, Helga and Ebba – three best pals who must use all their courage, calm and co-operation to face down both a terrifying troll and (even worse) an adult chieftain who always thinks he knows best.
Spolier alert: he doesn’t.
The play is based on a book by award-winning – and Sheffield-based – children’s author Bethan Woollvin, and it does her proud.
Across the 45 minutes running time, production company Wrongsemble blend song, storytelling and shadow puppetry to create a piece that moves with pace, poise and precision.
Among creative highlights are a magical Valhalla-like set seemingly made from little more than chipboard, and the use of dazzling torch-work to hint at a monster towering over the audience.
A raft of disparate cultural reference points – Taylor Swift, fish finger sandwiches and chaos theory all get a mention – add a post-modern twist to the overriding forest-and-fire sense of myth. Audience shout-outs bring an element of interactivity – plus a fart joke has the young viewers giggling in their seats.
And – safe to say – there’s a happy ending for all.
Yes, even for that chieftain.
By Colin Drury