The House With Chicken Legs At Southbank Centre Review

DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mel Randle

Last night we were invited to The Queens Hall at The Southbank Centre to watch and review The House With Chicken Legs based on the novel by Sophie Anderson and performed by Les Enfants Terribles.  Given the location of the theatre, we allowed extra time to soak up the Southbank Christmas market and Christmas lights and took a flight on The London Eye on route to the show.

Now, my day job is selling children’s books, and this is one I have in my stock, but…. I haven’t read it!  I think maybe I should have.  We read a synopsis on the tube on the way in, but to be honest it is so bizarre I’m not sure knowing the story makes any difference anyway.  That being said, we did kind of follow it but we also didn’t!

I’m probably confusing you and that’s because that is how I feel, but not necessarily in a bad way because I really enjoyed the show in a wacky and weird way.  I’m just not 100% sure I know what I was watching, but I do know it was brilliant.

The story centres around a 12 year old girl called Marinka who lives with her Baba (Grandmother) who is a Yaga (she guides the dead to the afterlife).  Marinka is trying to navigate her way into her teenage years but their house is constantly moving and she can’t live the normal life she so dreams of.  The only friend she has is a Jackdaw called Jack who, in the show, is a puppet – such an ‘awesome’ puppet, my daughter wants one as a pet!  The story is based on Prussian folklore.  It is a thought-provoking tale addressing issues of death, grief, being different and living the life you want to live despite pressures and expectations from those around you.  Even though the story in it’s entirety is quite hard to follow, I did find the general plot easy to understand.

The play had a cast of just six.  Other than the lead role of Marinka which was constant throughout, the other five actors had a character role but then also made up the ensemble/musical accompaniment.  It wasn’t always clear who they were or why they were there, but their performances were very enjoyable all the same.  The musical instruments were used in a number of ways.  In the opening scene they were used as the voices of the dead.  At this point I did wonder what I had come to see because I thought the whole play was going to be musical instrument noises instead of speaking.  Thankfully that was just the opening sequence and my fears were unfounded.

The set was just wonderful.  A large house (on wheel not chicken legs) which moved around to show internal and external scenes.  The show opened with a garden of bones and skeletons which had connotations of Mexico and The Day of the Dead, and projections on the back wall added to the atmosphere of where we were going next, whether it be the sea or the afterlife etc.  The costumes were what I imagined to be very traditionally Prussian.

The play was an eclectic mix of musical performance, puppetry and visual effects to take you on Marinka’s journey, but we HAVE to mention the chicken legs – because they were there!  They were mentioned many times – the clue is in the title so you would expect it but I really wasn’t expecting them to literally appear.  You certainly have to see it to be believe it!!

The recommended age for the show is 9+.  Our audience had a lot of younger children who were quite restless and probably struggled with the plot.  It is 2hr35mins long with a 15 minute interval and although it is visually striking, it is quite dark and scary in places. Bare this in mind when booking as a family.

So to sum up, despite the scratching head moments, the jaw dropping bizarre and the downright wacky, we had a fabulous time.  We left the show with a big smile on our faces, all looking bewildered and not quite knowing what had just happened to us, but I would wholeheartedly watch it again and would urge you to.  If you’ve never been to a Yaga House Party….. you need to go to this one!

Rating: 5/5

The House With Chicken Legs is showing at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre until 30th December.

https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/performance-dance/house-chicken-legs

Ticket prices £20-£40

To book visit The House with Chicken Legs (southbankcentre.co.uk)