Creation Theatre Company |
Box office
01865 766266 or at
www.creationtheatre.co.uk.
3rd Floor, Cherwell House, 1-5 London Place, Oxford, OX4 1BD.
Next
The Tale of the Beauty and the Tail of the Beast, 4th December to 7th January
We’re heading back to The North Wall for our 10th Christmas show, presenting a joyfully anarchic adaptation of this Christmas classic for the whole family to enjoy together.
Introducing Monsieur Affable’s Performing Players as they present the original French fairy tale of ‘Beauty and the Beast’, as performed by a beleaguered eighteenth century acting troupe – one of whom has gone missing, another of whom has delusions of grandeur, and all of whom are reading from a script that is in entirely the wrong order.
Where
North Wall Arts Centre (www.thenorthwall.org), South Parade, Oxford, OX2 7NN.
For more details
see Creation's web site at www.creationtheatre.co.uk.
Review of The Snow Queen
30th November 2019 to 5th January 2020
Review from the Newbury Weekly News.
The rites of winter
Creation Theatre's stunning Snow Queen
Creation Theatre: The Snow Queen, at North Wall, Oxford, until January 5
Creation Theatre's visually and aurally stunning traverse-style production of Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen, written and directed by Gari Jones, grips the audience from the outset. Jones has assembled Creation's crack team of Ryan Dawson Laight as designer, Matt Eaton with his typically crackly sound design and Ashley Bale (with John Welton) as lighting designer and the results are, as ever, unsettlingly brilliant.
Fresh from her role as Miranda in Creation's The Tempest, Annabelle Terry is a marvel in the leading role of Gerda, her costume suggestive of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. With her hair in an old-fashioned crocheted net, she's fascinated by roses and it's the cover of the country and western hit I Never Promised You a Rose Garden that echoes most plaintively throughout the play.
Natasha Rickman, another returnee, brings humour, seduction and a chilly beauty to the Snow Queen, gorgeous in a silver-twigged tiara that's magically old-fashioned. James Burton, also familiar to Creation audiences, is hilarious as a foppish prince, whilst newcomer Veronica Beatrice Lewis shows her versatility playing a hedgehog, a pigeon and the spoiled princess and Bart Lambert is suitably gauche and innocent as the lost soul, Kai.
Hannah says: It was scary when Kai reached out to the Snow Queen's hand and he got pulled away into the dark. The funniest part was when everybody got snowballs made of gigantic balloons. I threw one on to the stage where the Snow Queen and Gerda were when they were doing a challenge. It was hard to see them because there were so many snowballs in the way. My favourite character was Gerda because she was so brave when Kai got captured by the evil Snow Queen and she had to take a long journey meeting so many weird people. One wanted to keep her forever, another wanted her to forget about everything and bandits tried to kill her and one girl wanted to be her friend or else she would get angry. The costumes were fab-u-lous and the Snow Queen had such a long cape that it nearly covered the whole stage.
JON LEWIS & HANNAH LEWIS (8)
There ia a review from Oxinabox ("even more anarchic than usual... weird and wild maybe, but in Creation’s capable hands, always wonderful" - ★★★★).
Previous productions
Pinocchio, 15th December 2021 to 3rd January 2022
Romeo and Juliet, 12th to 23rd May 2021
Grimm Tales for Fragile Times and Broken People, 28th January to 14th February 2021
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, 19th December 2020 to 3rd January 2021
Bleak House, 1st February to 7th March 2020
The Snow Queen, 30th November 2019 to 5th January 2020
Pictures of Dorian Gray, 9th to 27th July 2019 at Blackwell’s Bookshop, 48-51 Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BQ
Peter Pan, 1st December 2018 to 5th January 2019 at the North Wall Arts Centre, Oxford. See the review in the archive.. See the review in the archive.
The Pit and the Pendulum, 17th October to 2nd November 2018 at the Bodleian Library, Oxford. See the review in the archive.
Brave New World, 1st July to 11th August 2018
Swallows and Amazons, 9th July to 11th August 2018. See the review in the archive.
Dracula, 3rd March to 14th April 2018. See the review in the archive.
A Christmas Carol, 2nd December 2017 to 6th January 2018. See the review in the archive.
The Wind in the Willows, 2nd to 30th December 2017
Alice, 15th July to 19th August 2017. See the review in the archive.
A Midsummer Night's Dream, 5th July to 5th August 2017
1984, 5th February to 5th March 2017
Snow White and Other Tales from the Brothers Grimm, 3rd December 2016 to 7th January 2017. See the review in the archive.
Hamlet, 13th July to 13th August 2016. See the review in the archive.
A Midsummer Night's Dream, 23rd June to 30th July 2016. See the review in the archive.
King Lear, 12th February to 24th March 2016. See the review in the archive.
Treasure Island, 4th December 2015 to 9th January 2016. There are reviews from the Oxford Times ("tremendous fun with a wicked edge, this scurvy morality tale will leave you reeling – and grinning long after the sea shanties have faded away" 5/5), Daily Info ("another memorable Christmas show... a well put together piece with lots of energy and enthusiasm").
Alice, 18th August to 13th September 2015. See the review in the archive.
As You Like It, 28th July to 12th September 2015. See the review in the archive.
The Wind in the Willows, 5th December 2014 to 10th January 2015. See the review in the archive.
Macbeth, 1st August to 13th September 2014. See the review in the archive.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, 6th December 2013 to 4th January 2014. See the review in the archive.
Henry V, 17th August to 14th September 2013. See the review in the archive.
Jekyll & Hyde, 8th June to 6th July 2013. See the review in the archive.
Aladdin and the Magical Lamp, 6th December 2012 to 5th January 2013. See the review in the archive.
The Merchant of Venice, 7th July to 1st September 2012
Richard II, 7th May 2012
The Odyssey, 29th March to 28th April 2012
Hamlet, 5th to 24th March 2012
A Christmas Carol, 8th December 2011 to 7th January 2012. There are reviews in the
Oxford Times
("backing up all this ensemble acting is some very strong staging... fine show")
and Daily Info ("a flawless performance... one of the most enjoyable shows of this year; don’t miss out on a night full of merriment and Christmas cheer! ").
Antony and Cleopatra, 8th July to 3rd September 2011. See the review in the archive.
King James Bible, 14th May to 11th June 2011 at St Barnabas Church
Dr Faustus, 4th February to 2nd April 2011 at Blackwell's Bookshop
Rapunzel, 26th November 2010 to 15th January 2011. See the review in the archive.
Romeo and Juliet, 19th July to 31st August 2010, at Said Business School Amphitheatre, Oxford
Beauty and the Beast, 27th November 2009 to 16th January 2010. See the review in the archive.
Twelfth Night (July 2009)
A Midsummer Night's Dream, 4th July to 13th September 2008
Othello (April 2009)
Hans Christian Andersen's Magical Tales (December 2008)
Animal Farm, 21st July to 30th August 2008
The Taming of the Shrew, 16th July to 25th August 2007
Hamlet, 1st June to 28th July 2007
Macbeth, 2nd June to 9th September 2006 at Headington Hill Park
Saints and Sinners (June 2008)
Much Ado About Nothing (June 2008)
Measure for Measure (March 2008)
Tales from the Brothers Grimm (November 2007)
The Oxford Passion (August 2007)
Arabian Nights (November 2006)
Robin Hood (July 2006)
The Merchant of Venice (June 2006)
King Lear (February 2006)
The Snow Queen (November 2005)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (July 2005)
The Comedy of Errors (January 2005)
A Christmas Carol (November 2004)
Romeo and Juliet (July 2004)
Much Ado About Nothing (June 2004)
The Winter's Tale (February 2004)
The Tempest (July 2003)
Twelfth Night (June 2003)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (June 2002)
Romeo and Juliet, and As You Like It (July 2001)