The Inquisition of the Big Bad Wolf is no children's tale. Instead, Prying Eye Productions brings us a story of inner anxieties, discomfort within straight-jacketed conformity and the strange freedoms of self. The design of this show takes brilliant advantage of every element to project its message, from the acting and costuming, lighting, to sound, to stage boundaries, and audience participation. Clever use of lighting cues begin the experience with threatening and frightening postures making the actors appear as disjointed monsters that flicker in and out of sight in the pitch darkness.
The performance itself is designed to disconcert and cause awkwardness in its viewers, with announcements of missing actors holding up the start, the uncertainty of who is acting and who isn't, and the players' obvious hesitation and extreme anxiety with every move, every action. The first sudden violence of movement, leading into contemporary dance, is shocking in its unexpectedness, causing an intake of breath from the audience. The realisation and understanding of the anxieties played out within our minds and before our eyes, together with the interweaving of fairytales and modern society, makes us reconsider personal insecurities, and welcome in our own big bad wolf as liberator.
Actors, Charles Ball, Lizzie Vilmanis, Zaimon Vilmanis, and Scarlett Anthony, give an unfalteringly intense performance that enthrals and simultaneously horrifies through the aggression, violence, and difficulties required by the writing and direction. This is an extremely powerful piece of theatre, expertly crafted and created by writer, Veronica Neave, sound designer, Guy Webster, and lighting designer, Dan Black. Psychologically challenging, this production makes fear beautiful.
Reviewed by Christine Pyman, Saturday 3rd March 2018.