The Red Shoes Danced the Night Away

Nikki Cheung as Karen. Photo by Manuel Harlan.

The Red Shoes by Hans Christian Andersen - a new version by Nancy Harris. The Royal Shakespeare Company, Swan Theatre, Stratford Upon Avon, until 19 January 2024. Direction and movement for The Red Shoes by Kimberley Rampersad.

Review by Ann Cee

This modern re-telling of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairy tale of the bewitched red shoes kicks off in modern Ireland with a fabulously dressed funeral entourage and a disarming dance on a coffin, so we know we need to settle in for plenty of dark and macabre strings to be pulled as the story unfolds. 

Unsettling, magical happenings slip in and out of the story as modern themes of belonging are explored through classic tropes such as the poor little orphan girl (Nikki Cheung) sent to live with the ‘benevolent’ adoptive parents (Dianne Pilkington, James Doherty) who are more Cruella de Vil than Daddy Warbucks.

The company of The Red Shoes. Photo by Manuel Harlan.

Pilkington and Doherty are superb in these caricatures, as is their outlandish son (Joseph Edwards) who has a fondness for blood and seeping guts, and very sharp cuts at ‘just the right angle’.  Is he the mad axe wielding, villain of the piece or some kind of hero?  There’s certainly little doubt over the ‘heroism’ of the debonair prince (Kody Mortimer).

Sylvestor (Sebastien Torkia) the shoe maker comes and goes in the forest with his overwhelming delight in dark mischief making and fills the narrative with his glorious suits and menacing charm while Mags (Sakuntala Ramanee) brings kindness and decency to the struggling Nugent family and their unfortunate orphan girl.

Kody Mortimer as Prince. Photo by Manuel Harlan.

Given this oppressive, uncaring, family home, it is no wonder that Karen, the orphan girl, wants only to escape, and finds release in dance for her grief, for her loneliness, for her pleasure and her self expression.  The red shoes help her on her way until she is lost to reality and tragedy strikes.

The costumes and headpieces in this show are second to none with the bird and the stag stealing the headlines, though there’s also some eye catching dresses and of course, some pretty exciting footwear peppered throughout the cast, with a pair of pink high heels making a fun, somewhat unexpected, appearance.  Shoe addicts may well find inspiration here.

Tickets available: https://www.rsc.org.uk/the-red-shoes