Girl Asleep and Fugitives: Fairy tales updated for modern times

I had the pleasure of catching 2 performances of Windmill Theatre at the Adelaide Festival.   Titled Windmill Trilogy, it consisted of 2 previously written plays Fugitives and School Dance, and a premiere Girl Asleep at the Festival.  Windmill Theatre is an Australian company focusing on teens and children's audience.

Girl Asleep was a coming of age story for teens and children.  Greta was trying to fit into her new environment, her new school, her not-so-friendly schoolmates.  She found comfort in Elliot, an awkward but kind boy. On the eve of her 15th birthday, her parents threw her a surprise party and strange events unfolded.   Probably inspired by Alice in Wonderland, we saw Greta entering a world where she met characters that somehow resembled those in reality. Artistic Director Rosemary Myers and the production team succeeded in creating a world of fantasy, employing puppetry, 50s design, lights and music in the small Space Theatre at the Festival Theatre. During the preview, certain scenes were slightly long but it should be taken care of at the opening night.    The cast was tight, with most actors playing multiple roles.  Ellen Steele played Greta with innocent charm while Eamon Farren was convincing as Greta’s awkward friend Elliot.   It is good to see a theatre company pumping resources in creating works for the youth.

Fugitives was a retelling of Robin Hood, set in the near future.  The young Robin returned to his hometown after a few years' absence, leaving his love interest Marion waiting in vain.  At the same time, the town was run by the evil forces, where the guards looked like Star Wars troopers. Among all these chaos, he had to deal with a love triangle.

Fugitives started well, where the characters were well introduced in the early scenes.  Things got muddled when it tried on one hand, dealing with the baddies and on the other hand, the love triangle. Having said that, the creative team did make the production tight and the ensemble cast held the performance together.  The young audience obviously were engaged.

While I found both plays a bit weak on the plot, I could be seeing from the point f view of an adult.  Based on the reception given to the cast on both nights, Windmill Theatre obviously had hit the right notes with the target audience.