Review of Whispers in the Wood, performed by the National Youth Theatre of Wales in the Aberystwyth Arts Centre

The scenery change between the town and the wood was very simple.  They had a rotating set and a box on wheels.  When it was time to switch to the wood the shop interior was turned round and was a rock formation and the box was just simply rolled off stage.  It was a very quick change and could easily be put back by turning round the rock formation and wheeling on the box again.  You also noticed a change in music when it changed from the town to the wood.  The music for the word was sometimes sharp to address the audience that there was danger about or almost magical tinkling sounds letting the audience know that the tailor’s daughter was safe with the fairies.  The music change also signified an emotion of a character or overall feeling of the scene.  For example if a character was experiencing pain then the music would be short and sharp notes.  On the other hand if the character was happy the music would be bouncy and lively.

The director, Greg Cullen, used a technique that Shakespeare used, where the fairy-like creatures spoke in rhyme and the common-folk / mortals did not.  This almost made the fairies more powerful than the mortals.  Greg Cullen also used up-to-date AV technology when it came to his visualisations.  Instead of having a mirror on the set he used a screen and projector so that when a customer tried on one of the clothes that the tailor had made, they saw what they wanted to see, or what the clothes had made them into in the mirror.  This was very effective as when the wolf tried on his jacket you saw an image of a wolf turn into a man.  This showed that he aspires to be a man and not a wolf although this quality doesn’t shine through until he puts on the jacket and we see he transform into an honourable noble man of trust.  I was also fascinated how the key flew into the tailor’s daughter’s hand.  It didn't look like it was thrown into her hand as it was directly into the palm of her hand and yet no elastic could be seen and added to the magic.  He also used projected images at the beginning and before and after the break, this consisted of the word “whispers” in Welsh and English, running across the front drape.  Combined with this the fairies were positioned by the side of the stage whispering the words “Whispers” and “Syribidion”. It was almost as if you could see what they were saying.

The love story between the tailor’s daughter and the wolf was represented mainly by dance and movement around each other but not as much touching and kissing each other.  The usual dance of flirtation, playfulness and fear of being rejected that usually goes with courtship emphasised that they both knew that they loved each other yet something was holding them back and that was her Father. It could have also been a healthy respect for each other, by not going the whole way and spoiling the beauty of the first lover. The dance also symbolised their love for each other and maybe, as it intensified, even sexual intercourse.

Intertwined with the main story were many little stories told in the script.  These were very quaint little stories many of them very comical but denoted very important morals that each and all of the characters were learning.  For example there was a story about a husband and wife who gave their first born child to a witch.  If they did not they would place a horrible curse on the child.  The curse was that the parents would see their child as a normal child but to everyone else she would be seen as a chicken.  Henrietta was her name and she left home.  A charming prince picked her up and fell in love with her for what she was.  The curse was lifted and they all lived happily ever after.  This related to the part of Whispers in the Wood when the tailor’s daughter had fallen in love with the wolf but her father disagreed, but eventually he saw the light and saw that the wolf was an honest man.  There were many good techniques used for these little moral tales.  One of these was when the prince and Henrietta were in a carriage.  You had six characters on the floor with two characters kneeling on top of them for the seat.  They then had four characters standing at the front representing the horses.  This was very comical, but worked well, as it gave the right impression to the audience.  Another technique they used was that when they were telling the moral tale about a witch, they used an acrobalance to get the height of the witch.  As the character was wearing a big robe, it floated well over the bottom character, that it made it look like that the top woman was the witch as you could not see the other character, only from the back.  This also made it look like that the witch was very tall and wide. It made the character grotesque, spider-like and threatening as the woman was looming over the captured “small” children.

Some other techniques the characters used was when looking for the wolf.  The characters involved the audience by looking directly at them and asking if they had seen the wolf anywhere.  They also shone their lanterns into the audience.

As part of the policy of the National Youth Theatre in Wales all of their plays have to be bilingual, both in English and Welsh.  Even though I am not a fluent Welsh speaker I fully understood the play as accompanied by the Welsh speaking there were actions or a following sentence in English would clearly suggest the meaning of the Welsh sentence.  As well as the script being bilingual the songs were too.  At the same time both the languages sung the same song.  The languages over lapped but you could still hear each word crystal clear.  This was very powerful as the words intertwined with each other and sometimes you ended up with only the Welsh speakers singing or vice versa.  This mix of Welsh and English echoed the mix of mortals and faeries showing how both could work in harmony together.

Most of the dances were inspired by an American step-dance, almost line dance like known as Appalachian.  The music was inspired by all sorts of music around the world and played by lots of different musical instruments around the world including harps and sitars to mention a few.  Again enhancing the theme of tolerance and embracing diversity of cultures and people.

Overall I thought that the play was fantastic on all levels.  No one that I was aware of was late for their cue, and all scene changes were very smooth and slick.  The costumes were astonishing and a range of contrasting characters all came together to make the most magical, heart warming (and wrenching) and most enlightening show I have ever seen.  If I had the chance to go and see it again I would definitely say yes!