|
|
| Review:
The Champion of Paribanou at the Stephen Joseph in Scarborough, until January 7th by Charles Hutchinson |
|
| IN a land
in the forgotten past or undreamt future, there lives a Sultan (Robert
Austin) with a Christmas beard, a voice for grand proclamations,
327 rooms in his palace and three sons. Houssain (Stuart Burt), the eldest, is studious and bookish, as denoted by his spectacles. Ali (Justin Brett), number two, is the traditional playboy spare, with an eye for the ladies and the mirror. Ahmed (Neil Grainger), the youngest, is still wet behind the courtly ears, just the ticket for this Alan Ayckbourn family drama to ride. The dutiful Grand Vizier (Paul Kemp) has a daughter, Murganah (Scarborough actress of the year Laura Doddington), who loves young Ahmed but has the vaulting ambition of a Lady Macbeth. Their paths are linked inextricably in a story of duty, service, devotion, duplicity and a petulant princess. As is the ruthless way in lands from forgotten pasts or undreamt futures, peace between nations is riding on an arranged marriage. Princess Nouronnihar arrives with her tongue-chopped maid, Safia (Sarah Manton), and her father's emissary, Salim (Marc Small), one of those malfunctioning robots to provide comic sport for Ayckbourn. Nouronnihar must choose between the Sultan's boys, and, truth is, she doesn't want to marry and nor do they. Time to hatch a plot, they resolve, involving long-distance travel and ultimately a telescope with an extraordinary range, a magic carpet and an apple. Until this point, the magic is slow to rise in Ayckbourn's revival of his most classical Arabian Nights-style tale for children. Lift-off comes once the carpet rises by the power of stage magic. With the marriage issue still to be resolved, the sons must fire an arrow the farthest and then retrieve it. Ahmed has to climb some far-off mountain, and once rescued, he finds himself in the cavernous quarters of Paribanou (Manton), who instructs him he has to be her champion in a vital task, no matter his timidity. And so a collision course is set with the increasingly evil Murganah (Doddington's hair has gone from blond to dark for yet another stand-out performance). Romance, scary adventure, sword fights and robotic slapstick complete this charming production's transformation from contender to champion. Tickets: 01723 370541 |
