No lesson learned but a lot to be enjoyed UNUSUAL STORY A REAL DELIGHT
A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings
Peacock Theatre( until Dec 28) ★★★★★
We were told firmly in the programme, and on stage, that there is no lesson to be learned from this staging of a short story by Colombian writer Gabriel Marcía Márquez. No moral maybe, but a lot to think about and enjoy. What’s definite is that this small production is a little gem, beautifully produced, and performed with great skill, and without a hint of pretension.
Genevieve Hulme-Beaman tells the story as a little girl. I don’t generally like adult impersonations of children onstage. They usually opt for irritatingly cute or funny. But Hulme-Beaman gets it absolutely right.
From the moment she starts speaking you are listening to a genuine child’s voice. She speaks with the insistent, raised voice of a little girl telling a story, unselfconscious, and demanding that you listen. It’s acting that hides the art going into it. And the best part is that she’s funny without trying to get laughs.
She’s accompanied by a self-effacing, non-speaking Manus Halligan who provides all the necessary accompaniment without drawing attention to himself.
It’s an unusual story, set in a small village. The fisherman Pelayo finds a very scruffy old man who has enormous wings, sitting in the back yard. Who and what is he?
Pelayo and his wife decide he must be an angel come to visit their sick child. Very soon everyone in the village has a different theory about the old man.
There’s a touch of Monty Python’s Life of Brian about it all. But the man and wife eventually hit on the practical idea that the old man can be a money-spinner for them.
There are tiny models that stand for the man and the local people. Scenery consists of small bits of cardboard. A low-tech camera is used occasionally to project the tiny models onto a small screen.
The whole production has the look of a child’s imagination making something wonderful out of very little. And eventually the story resolves itself into a beautiful if enigmatic ending.
The two performers perform as a perfect team and the whole thing is an absolute delight.
‘There’s a touch of Monty Python’s Life of Brian about it all’