In a small town, much like yours or mine, lives a community on the brink of despair. Their leader, a dragon, is cruel, unruly and greedy. Spoiler alert: the 'three headed' dragon is hilariously a middle aged man clad in a cape with a small paunch and a nasal voice. Rory Mullarkey's Saint George and The Dragon takes the tale of the legendary British hero and guides it through the centuries to provide relevance to today's socially and politically active audience. John Heffernan plays George, a dragons-layer desperate to save the town and help it to progress, yet when it does move forward George fears that the village are losing the most important thing, the spirit of the community. Heffernan gives the simplistic text as much depth, life and vitality as possible through vivid vocal storytelling.
The set is cleverly done, with a large upward slope providing a great surface area to manipulate for various projections. The miniature houses, factories and skyscrapers are complete with chimneys spewing smoke which provides a quick and simple setting for each era. There are some warm moments in which the importance of community shines through, such as when the village band together to provide George with a ramshackle 'collection of scraps' to form a suit of armour. The ensemble provide sweet, honest performances and showcase a variety of accents from across the UK, giving a snapshot of each actors own community, with particular commendations to Amaka Okafor who gives strength and depth to the damsel Elsa. Despite this, there are some feeble and quite frankly uninspiring songs scattered throughout the piece that scream "we're singing because the set behind us is being changed". The piece certainly perks up in the second act when bought into the contemporary society, as we witness traditionalist George attempt to slow down a rapidly progressive society, much different to the one formed on community that he knows and loves. The style of the piece does feel slightly confused, as the farcical moments are trampled on by emotional monologues with serious messages then wrapped up with jovial group singing. With bright character driven costumes, simplistic text and a moral to the story, Saint George is essentially a middle class pantomime. - Faye Butler Connected talks and events for Saint George and the Dragon: 16-21: Designing Saint George and the Dragon Monday 9 Oct & Monday 16 Oct, 5pm A Short History of Saint George Tuesday 31 Oct, 6pm Class – an unequal nation? Thursday 2 Nov, 5.45pm Designing Saint George with Rae Smith Monday 20 Nov, 5.30pm Rory Mullarkey and Lyndsey Turner Thursday 23 Nov, 6pm Theatre Dialogue Club Thursday 30 Nov, 7pm
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