The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart @ The Royal Exchange
Physical storytelling, rhyming couplets, and Kylie Minogue; a powerful hat-trick.
The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart is, indeed, fairly strange from the outset. The five-piece ensemble are challenged to bring folkloric ballads into the modern day - a task they achieve with aplomb.
From the outset, we, the audience, are drawn into a familiar pub-like atmosphere, with lively on-stage musicians and engaging storytellers. The careful use of props adds bursts of energy whilst still letting the script sing out. This is a story that could be told, as the writers intended, around a table over a long winter’s night.
Joanne Thomson as Prudencia. Photo by Johan Persson
For much of the first act, the eponymous heroine is noticeably silenced in her own story. She mimes her way through the tale, whilst the narrators dictate her every move. However, that’s not to say that she’s overlooked or reduced to a subordinate role; instead, Joanne Thomson, as Prudencia, is free to embrace playful physicality, vrooming around in her cardboard car and striding across rooftops in slow motion.
There’s something almost Peter Pan-esque about the way in which Prudencia journeys between the scenes of her story. This is, in no small part, thanks to an inspired design by Max Johns. Miniature dolls houses - complete with lit-up windows and smoking chimneys - allow the stage to represent all of Scotland. These diminutive buildings also elevate the cast to the stature of giants, slathering yet another layer of muted surrealism onto the show’s eclectic trifle.
The irrefutable takeaway from the production is that David Greig’s script is beautifully crafted. Dominated by rhyming couplets, the format plays with audience expectations and - by leading us to presume the impending rhyme - subverting those expectations entirely.
Yet, thankfully, the verse never seems forced. Indeed, Thomson, as Prudencia, tackles the metre effortlessly and allows the rhyme scheme to take a backseat to her character’s expression. Conversely, the tangential ballad of Colin Syme - played by Oliver Wellington - embraces rhyme in all its lowly silliness.
Indeed, Syme is not the only pantomimic role offered up for our delight this festive season. Charming caricatures are sprinkled throughout: doddering, archaic professors, small-town publicans, and a flock from a raucous hen night (with costumes that only amplify their volume). The ensemble counteract Prudencia’s prudence with colourful and flamboyant characterisations.
This production exemplifies theatrical storytelling techniques. Whilst honouring folkloric ballad traditions, there are injections of modernity throughout that really tickle the audience: an ode to Kylie Minogue; a curse upon I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here.
A scene from the Underworld. Photo by Johan Persson
In a stark twist, the early part of the second act adopts a fantastic new set design but is far less compelling. Briefly, I worried that we’d had our fun and now we must allow ourselves to be fed a moral message. Director, Debbie Hannan, describes her idea of hell as “boredom”, which clearly comes across in this visualisation of the underworld, which feels like a series of scene changes rather than actual scenes.
But, I’m pleased to confirm that my knee-jerk feelings of disappointment were washed away by the justification of this directorial choice. What follows is a wonderful rumination on the power of verse to strip a writer of control and to give life to autonomous characters. Grieg’s ballad (co-created with Wils Wilson) is overtly self-conscious about its form and focuses on celebrating - indeed, thanking - words for what they allow us to achieve.
The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Heart is almost a story of female liberation. Our self-assured heroine does follow a journey of discovery, but she also shares her tale with a knight in shining Calvin Kleins! Part of me wishes she could save herself. But, ultimately, this is a show concerned with reigniting traditional storytelling and subverting our expectations. A knight-less “modern twist” would’ve been altogether too Disney’s Frozen.
The Royal Exchange bills this latest production as an alternative Christmas show, “a fairy-tale of sorts” - which seems distinctly apt. There’s snow on stage, to tick off the Christmas prerequisites, but this self-proclaimed “strange” tale is surprisingly dark for such a playful production. Lively costume design meets incredibly atmospheric music from Malin Lewis. Light-hearted couplets are balanced by a period of sombre prose. Even before we meet Paul Tinto’s subdued Lucifer, the show is careful to present a balance of flavours, to avoid the rhyming storytelling genre from becoming sickly sweet.
The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart plays at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester from 4th December 2021 to 15th January 2022. For tickets and more information, visit the Royal Exchange website.
