The Little Matchgirl and Other Happier Tales

Emma Rice has encapsulated the spirit of the season in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse’s Christmas production of The Little Matchgirl and Other Happier Tales, and it’s not as jubilant as you might expect. The artistic director has baked together several of Hans Christian Anderson’s tales to create a composite piece, which in her own words is a "theatrical Christmas pudding of many flavours". The stories take us on a turbulent emotional journey; the play opens with Thumbelina, a heart-warming tale of triumph in the face of adversity. The miniature heroine is delicately puppeteered by Bettrys Jones, and the adventure is flecked with comedy by the double act of Kyle Lima and Jack Shalloo who we encounter as garrulous toads and later as pompous beetles. There are moments of genuine fright, none more so than when Thumbelina is taken hostage by a depraved mole; the caprices of the plot are unexpected and leave you at the edge of your seat.

Next is The Emperor’s New Clothes. This is a light hearted take on the parable; keenly aware of its audience in cosmopolitan London and full of references to Shoreditch designers and EDM. We all await the final twist, as the mesmerised child in front of me whispered, "he’s not going to go out naked is he?!" but it’s still magnificent when it comes. Luckily for Paul Hunter who plays the emperor (and the rest of us no doubt) there is no full frontal nudity here, instead, the Emperor wears a luridly detailed onesie, it’s a reveal so unexpected, so filled with kitschy whimsy that the room explodes into laughter and applause.

The third story is The Princess and the Pea, and in this interpretation, the plot has been changed slightly. Instead of the happy ending that I was told as a child, here the insecure prince loses the princess due to his lack of faith. This reworking of the narrative, brought the atmosphere to a sombre level appropriate for the show’s tragic end. Throughout the performance, the overarching tale of The Little Matchgirl provides the crucial link in the narrative as we pass from story to story. She is always with us on stage, alone and shivering in the cold London streets, dreaming up vibrant tales to pass the night. There’s a warmth in story telling that she has shared with us, but it will only help so much; as she strikes her final match and the flame begins to fade she is discovered prostrate and lifeless by a passing policeman. The finale is deeply moving, the shift from Victorian to modern day London conveyed through costuming and in dialogue by the actors remind us that poverty is not just consigned to storybooks; as Emma Rice concludes in her introduction: "if only this were just a story".

It’s a message of hope, not despair that Rice wants to send. At the performance's end, the audience is reminded of the ongoing work of organisations such as Crisis and The Salvation Army. We leave the theatre with a festive appreciation of the privileges that we often take for granted, and a powerful warning of the dangers in being blind to the indigence of those who aren’t so lucky.