The Snow Queen

30 | May 23, 2013 | www.cambridge-news.co.uk | Cambridge News

What’s On Family Words: Ella Walker

FREEZING winds andglittering snow-scapes, HansChristian Anderson’s The

Snow Queen is bitterly chilling.Which makes children’s theatre

company, Trestle Theatre’s skewedangle on it even more fantasticalthan you can imagine: instead ofshivery landscapes, they’ve createda stage version of the classic fairytale set in the sweltering lands ofIndia, bubbling with colour.

Written by Indian writerAnupama Chandrasekhar, it tellsthe story of best friends Gowri andKumar who live in the southernsnow-free tip of India. “It seemsrather a wonderful thing that aNorth European story, set in aNorth European context, alsoreally touched a little girl in India,”says director Rosmaunde Hutt.“When [Anupama] was grown upshe had this idea of transferringthe fairy tale to an Indian context.And she does it very, very cleverly.”

The story tracks Gowri’s journeyto save her friend from thewicked Snow Queen, travellingall the way up through Indiato the Himalayas. Rosamundeexplains: “The Snow Queendom is

transferred to a magical Kashmir,a magical Himalayas where thereare mountains and snow. Sothe little girl Gowri’s journey isthrough all these wonderful placesin India; the backwaters of Kerala,the glitzy Mumbai, Bollywood,the barren desert-like hills, andthose places completely reflectand parallel the places that HansChristian Anderson chose to sethis characters.”

A family show that little ones,young teenagers, parents andgrandparents can enjoy (“they’veall got something to chew on,”),it explores a different side to theSnow Queen too.

“Often in productions of theSnow Queen we don’t really knowwhy the Snow Queen is like sheis. She snatches this little boy, shechanges his character and hispersonality by throwing shards ofice into his eye and his heart butwe don’t know the reasons why.Anupama has developed this storywhere the Snow Queen has lost herown child through a terrible war,so her cruel actions actually comefrom a great sense of grief andloss,” says Rosamunde. “By the

end of the story the two childrenrelease her from that grief andthat pain. It’s a very lovely thingthat the children in the play arethe agents of change they help theSnow Queen to become happy andlet go of her hatred and her angerand spring comes once again.”

Despite some dark themes it’salso a show filled with comedy,colour and some crazy characters,

like a rickshaw driving half-manhalf-crow who Gowri meets inMumbai and a spectacular dancebattle in Bollywood that fusesBollywood and breakdancing. Aspecially composed soundtrackthat spills over with the sounds ofbustling Mumbai and dramaticBollwood also helps take you fromplace to place.

With so many places tocapture it must be quite a feat tostage. “It was quite a feat!” saysRosmaunde laughing, describinghow an ensemble cast of sevenBritish actors with Asian heritageperform the piece. “We show thestorytelling through movementand the visual language of theactors. The props are very, verysimple.

“A bunch of confetti becomessnow, a couple of boxes andan umbrella become therickshaw, it’s very simplydone so we encourage thechildren to always use theirimagination with what theysee.”

So why should people seeit? “The play is about healingpast traumas but it’s also about

what you would do for a friend,it’s about showing the importanceof love, it’s about being playfuland laughing and having greatfun along the way.” It soundsabsolutely magical.

The 11.30am performance isalso the first of its kind at theJunction. It will be fully signed by amember of the cast in the midst ofthe action, and the audience willbe free to make noise and comeand go as they please. The relaxedenvironment is suitable to anyoneon the autistic spectrum, or whohave sensory or communicationdisorders, or a learning disability.

� The Snow Queen, CambridgeJunction, Sunday, May 26 at11.30am and 2.30pm. Tickets £9 (£5concessions) from (01223) 511 511 /www.junction.co.uk

The Snow Queen