Red Riding Hood

Each time the Fringe rolls round, one wonders how many more times Red Riding Hood can be retold. Horse & Bamboo’s take on the overly familiar fairytale does not break much new ground, but it packs a lot more charm than the majority of bland, derivative adaptations.

The company frame the story of the eponymous scarlet-clad heroine within another story, thus making it more about the art of narrative than about the fairytale itself.  Performers Jonny Quick and Nix Wood have a tale to tell us, but props keep going missing and Jonny is more interested in cake than storytelling. Somehow, despite a few mishaps, they muddle through, adding a few twists to the tale along the way.

Horse & Bamboo also inject proceedings with a liberal dose of silliness, balancing out the darker elements of the story and ensuring that the attention of their young audience rarely dips. The aesthetic, meanwhile, is endearing in its handmade simplicity – all masks, puppets and brightly painted backdrops.

A few minutes could be shaved from the running time, particularly for the sake of children at the younger end of the recommended age range. At times, the abundance of performance techniques brings us dangerously close to confusion. Do we really need puppetry, animation, masks and shadow play?

Aptly, given its home at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, storytelling ultimately saves the day. While Horse & Bamboo put their own stamp on Red Riding Hood, it succeeds because it understands the key ingredients of fairytale: intrigue, wonder and enchantment.