Rather than an exposition of catchy songs and animated talking crabs aimed at preteens, the original version of The Little Mermaid, written by Hans Christian Andersen, is a dark and tragic fairytale about division, separation and unrequited love.
In this version, the finned-princess is never reunited with her prince, rather she is forced to make the impossible decision between murdering her true love or succumbing to her own death. To make it even worse, our protagonist suffers constantly from a pain of walking comparable only to stepping on broken glass.
Director Eva Tausig’s adaptation can be described in one word – ambitious. Physical theatre, dance, poetry and a narrating chorus combine in what Tausig calls ‘self-conscious storytelling’, along with the regular ensemble of lighting and sound effects.
If that doesn’t sound challenging enough, this piece of drama also relies on a high level of audience participation throughout (gulp). The audience is divided into two-the ‘human world’ and the ‘sea world’-which are separated by a net. Simple enough so far. However, as the play progresses they are expected to become part of the cast, holding props, ringing bells and waving bits of fabric around to emulate whirlpools. Most people would associate this with slapstick comedy as opposed to romantic tragedy, but it is undeniably effective.
Symbolism and abstract representation are intrinsic throughout Tausig’s creation. Whether she will succeed in creating the intense, dark atmosphere she seems to strive for, or drown spectacularly in a sea of pretentiousness though, remains to be seen. Considering The Little Mermaid is ultimately a fairytale, a certain amount of cheesiness is acceptable, but unless the script’s delivery is perfect, Tausig’s adaptation may well border on the cringe-worthy and lose the poignancy of the original fairytale.
For those theatre-goers wanting a relaxed evening of viewing, this certainly is not a play for you. However, if audience participation is your kind of thing then no doubt an underwater adventure of giant nets, riotous noise-making and embarrassing costumes is sure to provide a entertaining evening.
3 star out of 5
