One of the more bonkers Christmas offerings, and not in a good way, The Faerie Queen is billed as "a modern fairytale for old and young" and is based on Edmund Spenser's epic poem. If I were 10 and had been expecting a jolly spectacle of cross-dressing and shouting "He's behind you!", I would be very cross about this devised theatre piece.
It tells the story of the young female knight Britomart who, on catching sight of her future husband in a magic mirror, sets out to find him. She multi-tasks by saving damsels and fighting wizards along the way. As it was, I was pretty cross anyway because this is exactly the kind of thing that makes people go "bah, humbug!" when they hear the words "devised and physical theatre", and it puts children off theatre for life.
The only bit I genuinely enjoyed was when the heroine was menaced by what appeared to be a large installation of ping pong balls. Quite why remains a mystery, as does a great deal else, because in their eagerness to fling themselves about the stage and throw everything into the mix (including music, voiceovers and choreography), Cilgwyn Theatre forget the fundamental need to tell the story.
The 90 minutes render Britomart's trials less accessible than Spenser's 1596 poem. There is a touch of Filter's work about this show, in the way it looks and utilises Spesh Maloney's wall-to-wall music, but it is doomed by overearnestness, lack of precision and an inability to recognise that less is more. The set and costumes were created from recycled materials, but the whole thing is junk.
· Until December 29. Box office: 0844 412 4300.
