Theatre review: Little Red Riding Hood

Published on Tuesday 8 December 2009 19:52

THE ARCHES, GLASGOW ***

IF YOU'RE very small, a full-blown panto – or even a two-hour children's show with scary villains – can be a bit much. So it's just as well that theatres like the Arches in Glasgow take the time to present special Christmas shows for children under five. This year Julie Brown of Random Accomplice adapts and directs a 45-minute version of Little Red Riding Hood that strikes few sparks, but offers a thoughtful exploration of the story's central theme of danger and how children should avoid it.

So Natalie McConnon's cool, slightly sassy Little Red sets off for Grandma's house, dressed in a nice red duffle coat, and helped by the traditional backdrop of a forest path. Her mother's warning rings in her ears – stay on the path, don't pick the flowers, get to Grandma's nice and early. Mum, though, is a bit of a caricature, played here as a housewife in a pinny and headscarf by the show's composer/musician Alastair Macrae.

Red Riding Hood's catchy little song contains a hint that if she only obeyed her mother, her independent life would never even get started. There's a suitably suave and hairy wolf – also conjured up by Macrae – plus a lovely Granny played by Mary Gapinski, and a nice woodcutter (Ewan Donald) who saves Little Red's bacon. The kids are particularly impressed when Granny, in her flowery pink bed, is first swallowed by the wolf, and then cut back out again, whole and unharmed.

The show could perhaps use one more cast member to provide the story with a steady, constant narrative centre. But the message is an interesting one: be careful, it says, listen to advice, don't trust wolves – but don't be so afraid that you can't live a little, and have the odd adventure.