Reviews

The Sir John Mills theatre was an ideal setting for such a performance – the small intimate space helped enhance the dark stories and bring together the audience in a sense of community that was highly apparent from the minute you stepped in the door.

The attention to details was fantastic throughout the building, with Portuguese cakes for sale and no smoking signs also written in Portuguese.

Ipswich is lucky to have an active Portuguese community and this play really helps to embrace it.

The atmosphere and reaction from the audience helped convey the message - of communities coming together, and that we're not so different after all.

Sebastian's friends spur him on

The combination of Portuguese and British performers added another dimension, and along with the wonderful music gave it an air of authenticity and professionalism I was maybe not expecting.

Gathering from the audience's reaction there were a lot of friends and family who were along to offer support on opening night.

The New Angles Theatre Company obviously works extremely well together and appeared confident to try out new ideas and themes throughout the production.

This was particularly apparent with the costume and set design - which were fantastic; the witch and fish costumes were duly terrifying and hilarious.

Strong cast

The characters of Sebastian and Tom represented a good main focus and along with an ensemble of numerous other characters made for a really talented and engaging cast.

The supporting characters included an old washer woman with a passion for wrestling young men, a horse and lion double act and pantomime style ugly sisters,

The music throughout the performance lifted the stories and created an ideal way to separate and link different areas. The traditional Portuguese folk music and English songs added another element and I felt somewhat defined the show.

I did feel the story lost itself at points, and possibly too many stories were featured, although having said that the length of the show was just right and by the end felt well rounded.

Thoroughly entertained, we went home to enjoy a glass of port – for some reason I suddenly had a craving.

The show runs until Sunday July 1 and I would recommend it if you enjoy music and fairy tales - children will love it, although at points the tales are quite dark.