Fairytales are scary.
Wicked stepmothers, witches and wolves at every turn…
They teach us important life lessons at an early age.
What would you choose? The promise of adventure or the safety of the path?
Written by Kevin Dyer, Little Red is a retelling of a fairytale for the age.
With any retelling of a classic text, much like a potentially pretentious deconstruction of a perfectly good and traditional roast dinner for no reason on Masterchef, it’s a risky business.
Let’s take that overriding message of adventure or safety. Now, ‘paid up member of the Gen X club’ me, we were brought up with stranger danger, Charlie says, censor-free versions (pros and cons, pros and cons) of our nursery rhymes and fairytales.
The key is to keep in the ingredients that played their part in the success of the original, whilst introducing fresh new elements that work for a new audience and age, adding value and a brand new take.
Theatre Porto, based in Ellesmere Port, are ‘inspired by the child-like qualities of curiosity, play and fairness’.
In our Little Red, Wolfie is battling to keep their family alive as their natural habitat declines. We’ve traditionally had a male wolf, but I became increasingly interested in the story we can tell if Wolf was played by a female performer.
NINA hAJIYIANNI, Theatre porto artistic director and director of little red
Indeed, Little Red, enjoys an all-female cast, with Francesca Anderson as Grandma. Stephanie Greer as Wolfie, Fatima Jawara as Little Red and Anoosh Kendrick as Woodcutter.
An intimate, immersive experience, the low lighting, the audience seated either side of the ‘action’, a safe-space is immediately felt.
Crossing occasionally over the line into audience participation (encouraged but never co-oerced – fellow introverts rejoice!), adults and children alike are free to sit back, relax and enjoy the magic.
With the family show recommended to children 4 years and up, HOME being the wonderful place it is, also plays host to a creative hub and play area in the foyer, to keep little ones amused on their visits, with some rather aptly placed characters…
In the show, the talented cast work hard. Precious little downtime, aside from their principal roles, they even took to all fours to bring us some rather delightful sheep and cows, pun-tastic in their delivery! ( and I do enjoy a pun).
With simple sets, gracefully manipulated and smoothly updated by a once again hard-working cast, anything additional to the backdrop of trees, gravel (which enjoyed some creative raking along the way), cameos by a dining table, Grandma’s bed and the occasional ‘puppeted’ bird or caterpillar, would have been nothing but a mere distraction.
Add to this some foot-tapping, ear-worm worthy songs, Little Red was not only lovely, but actually reassuringly creepy.
One of my favourite ‘knowing’ sequences was when Little Red found herself lost in the foggy old forest, bumping into what felt like the ghosts of fairytales past – we had Jack and his beans, Hansel in the middle of leaving his trail of breadcrumbs, even the equally wolf-fearing three little pigs…but it was the Prince searching for his true love, holding out a shoe for a confused Little Red to try on, which drew the biggest laugh of the afternoon, when she dead-panned,
But I’m 12.
As the show’s slogan decrees, following the ‘safe path’ is to miss out on adventure, which is the most interesting part of the ‘retelling’ nature of this long-established text.
On one hand, children (and, indeed, adults) are encouraged to adhere to the rules, put safety above all else and be mindful of society’s dangers and red flags.
On the other hand, some of my greater misdemeanours, shall we say, when not leading to deep shame, regret and, well, hangover, have led to some of the greatest adventures, discoveries, memories and pay-offs of my life.
And I find it intriguing and even exciting, that this possibility is being laid bare in this production.
Yes the woods are brimming with wolves, ready to thwart you at every turn. But how do you learn and grow if you don’t discover and understand your ‘enemies’ for yourself?
Yes (spoiler) grandma is eaten, but then she is saved (more reassuring spoiler). But instead of leaving matters at that, and Little Red being sent home to have nightmares with a flea in her ear, she learns the reasons behind the collective wolves’ behaviour (they’re hungry) and just why that is (their habitat is being eroded and destroyed).
And in the understanding or this, and being afforded an opportunity to demonstrate compassion and understanding (voluntarily giving Grandma’s pie to the Wolf), Little Red enjoyed a richer experience and life lesson.
I will leave it to the parents to argue and decide what the risk appetite is for this perhaps controversial take. But I love it when theatre, and indeed art of any discipline, pushes the boundaries and leaves you not only entertained but with questions to take away and ponder..
But do you know what? We can have me describe, analyse, theorise, intellectualise (use your imagination), but I think the most important thing is to hand over to my lovely little 4 year old niece, Little L, who was my plus 1 for the occasion, and guest reviewer on this blog post.
On the pre-dinner party games…
The wolfies played musical statues, and musical chairs but they had no chairs!
The howling competition was funny! I went wawooooooooooooo!!
On her favourite characters…
I liked the wolfies because they danced, they sang, they were howling , they were funny! I wasn’t frightened of them! They also pretended be a dog!
On the moment Little Red made a morally heavy, potentially life-changing choice…
Me- what happened when Little Red stepped off the red path?
Little L- it was a pink path.
Me – ” “
On the darkest moment of the show…
Grandma was in the wolfie’s tummy and it was funny. They got her out by chopping (laughs)!
On audience participation and breaking down of the 4th wall
I liked it when Little Red gave me a biscuit!
On the climax of the show and kindness extended to the ‘villain’ of the piece…
Wolfie got the pie and I was happy. She didn’t want to give it to granny!
In summary, Little L was transfixed throughout the 60+ minutes and left with a smile on her little 4 year old face.
And that, my friends, is all that really matters.
Little Red continues at HOME Mcr until Wednesday 6 December.
For more details, visit…
honorary manc 
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