How do you take a tale that is set largely underwater (particularly one that most people know through Disney’s legendary telling) – and bring it to life on a small stage in the middle of the English countryside?
Is such an undertaking doomed to failure?
On the day of her 18th birthday, mermaid Merryn (Annabelle Aquino) contemplates her future with siblings Kitto (Zach Burns) and Senara (Lucinda Freeburn). You see, turning 18 brings with it the freedom to finally break the ocean’s surface and see the world above – and Merryn is starting to yearn for a life beyond her home. Much to the concern of her protective father, king of the sea Taran (Christopher Staines).
Yet before family war can break out, they’re caught in the wake of a passing fishing boat. As her siblings seek refuge in the deeps, she is drawn to the cause of the squall – arriving in time to rescue the jolly young boat hand Cadan (Tom Babbage), tragically washed overboard just before he can leave his hard, poverty-stricken life as a fisherman for more prosperous employment aboard a trawler.
Disaster seems to have been averted – so far, so Disney – until she discovers that her brother has vanished from the sea entirely. Knowing that he can only have been captured by the land dwellers, she strikes a deal with Granny Ocean (Sophie Kamal) – in exchange for her voice, she can walk the land and find him. But if she doesn’t do so within 3 days, she will turn to foam…
As you can see, this is not quite the story you may know from Disney’s 1989 masterpiece. Relocating the action to 19th century Cornwall, and embracing the folk music and tales of the region, has produced a far more mystical and resonant telling which injects fresh, resonant themes into an old favourite.
Those themes aren’t overbearing – this is at heart a story for younger audiences – but they plant seeds and encourage thought. We see a parent’s desire to protect their children set against a child’s desire to live their own life. The importance of respecting the natural world wars with the desire to exploit that world in order to simply survive.
But let us not forget that this is a fairy tale, and is filled with magic (both fun and forbidding) as a result. The production team have excelled themselves here – this truly feels like an underwater world. The sound of bubbling water fills the theatre; delightful sea creatures (fabulously brought to life through skilful puppetry) flit in the background; and subtly effective costume design (hiding the mer-peoples’ feet and suggesting the presence of fins), together with the actors’ movements, convey a natural sense of bobbing along underwater.
Brilliantly, the sunken detritus of ships also doubles as the set for the vessels which prowl the ocean’s surface – because the nautical feel extends to the surface-set scenes too, and it has a here that the production comes into its own. While the ships and sailors of Disney’s story arguably served purely as context for Ariel’s love interest, here they are full settings and characters in their own right – and ones which bring the folk-stories and -music of Cornwall to life. Fiddles and accordions might not be what you imagine when you think of this story, but they inject the more relatable pagan magic of England as opposed to the showtune magic of Hollywood. Folk tales (especially folk horror) have become more popular in recent years; a sign perhaps of peoples’ desire to reconnect with the land, and their place within it, as the world becomes an increasingly threatening place.
That might feel like a heavy note on which to end a play (or a review), but hey, it’s Christmas – and as Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” (itself set in a world adjusting to the opportunities and threats of industrialism) teaches us, Christmas is a time for connecting with the world, and our place within it, too. A truly delightful festive treat, “The Little Mermaid” is a great way to do so.
“The Little Mermaid” runs to the 4th January; tickets can be booked at https://www.watermill.org.uk . Photos are courtesy of Pamela Raith.
