Once on this Island, Curveball Creative in association with Hayes Theatre Company, Hayes, 2-31 Aug

 

This is an odd one-  a musical version of a Caribbean retelling of "The Little Mermaid", with emphasis drawn on elements of Caribbean social politics and religious practice. It premiered on Broadway 35 years ago and in this production there's a lot of pacific-island references in the design and some of the choreography. The darker tone of the Hans Christian Andersen original is maintained here - a young woman sacrificing all for the sake of a man who's not worthy of her, while the gods around her make dark bets on her fate. The production does bring across the power of the material, which is Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's score and Ahrens's smooth script, incorporating magic, dance, and tradition. In Brittanie Shipway's production it uses the intimate Hayes stage to create a community and two different worlds of the island, both the small village where heroine Ti Moune grows up, and the grand hotel where the richer side of the island indulges themselves - Nick Pollard's set design uses the tightness of the Hayes to make the set up from what look like found objects, incorporating small elements like slatted windows and a grand gate in as the location gets more sophisticated. Choreographer Leah Howard makes sure the show moves with a mix of pacific islander movement and more traditional dance vocabularly, and absolutely belongs to the cast members. 

There's a great set of performances here too - Thalia Oseceda Santos is a powerhouse as the innocent Ti Moune, passionate and sweet and so fragile we fear for what the world has in store for her - and the quartet of god performers, Godgoorewon Knox's water god Agwe, Paula Parore's bountiful earth goddess Asaka, Cyprinana Singh's romantic goddess Erzuilie and Rebecca Verrier's intimidating god of death Papa Ge, contribute strongly to the storytelling as they impose their will on the world below them. 

There's a warmth to this folk tale even as it pushes the darkness in under the warmth, and we see the legacy of colonialism on a culture in ways that are painful to us as the darker ending emerges out of old divides. It's a gorgeously compiled production and well worth seeing.