The appreciative audience at the final performances of The Birthday of the Infanta lapped up every single word uttered by performer Georgina Roberts, who told the Oscar Wilde fairy tale using voice, movement, puppetry and audience participation. She played man, woman and child, sang, danced and used an astonishing range of voices – a real ‘mistress’ of her art. It is the Infanta of Spain’s birthday, her once in a year chance to see other people rather than the court of Spain, which keeps her shielded from the world by decree of the King, who continues to mourn his wife’s death. One particular entertainer – the grotesque, deformed son of a charcoal maker, falls in love with the Infanta, setting up the painful denouement. My young companion was hooked, amazed by the performance but also by the story itself, which we talked about for days afterwards. Her verdict – ‘I haven’t seen anything like this before’- succinctly sums up what Trestle does: using a variety of techniques to tell a story.
This was serious theatre for enjoyment –and our young people need more of this. Brilliant.
