Ad – press tickets – all views are my own
Each year, the New Vic’s festive production proves to be an enchanting and immersive twist on a classic and well-known story, from 2024’s The Three Musketeers to The Nutcracker and Alice in Wonderland in the holiday season’s prior. This year is no exception, with the team delivering an inventive and visually spellbinding interpretation of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic tale of The Little Mermaid.
The 1989 Disney adaptation of the story is the one I grew up with, though younger audiences may be more familiar with the 2023 live action remake. Adapted and directed by Theresa Heskins in collaboration with Vicki Dela Amedume, the New Vic’s version of the story is set in a colourful coral reef, where young mermaid Coralie spends her days hoping for a chance to explore the world above the deep blue sea. When she saves a human boy in trouble, much to her sisters’ anguish, she decides to leave behind the life she knows and sets out on a great adventure.
As always with a New Vic production, the age-old story remains recognisable, but has undergone some modern updates. Rather than focusing solely on romantic sacrifice, it explores a message of courage and identity. Meanwhile, instead of losing her voice entirely, Coralie exchanges her siren song for legs with the sea witch, allowing her to communicate – albeit unusually – with the gen z influencers and nepo babies of the ‘up above’.
Rhiannon Skerritt plays Coralie with the required amount of childlike curiosity and stubbornness, while Darcy Braimoh is an excited and entrepreneurial Caspian. But a special mention must go to Inês Sampaio as narrator Red Whip Coral, who not only drives the story forward, but provides ethereal vocals for the show’s score, as well as the eerie voice of the sea witch from the shadows of the stage.
The jaw-dropping circus elements – now something of a New Vic speciality – is nothing short of spectacular. Aerial sequences allow the mermaids to swim around the stage in a unique, innovative and utterly mesmerising way. Combined with live music from a talented band doubling as reef inhabitants, cleverly designed staging, beautiful costumes and at one point, bubbles filling the air, it really was a feast for the senses.
With The Little Mermaid, The New Vic once again delivers a family-friendly festive show that feels both timeless and brand-new.
Read more:
