Forget the Disney version of The Little Mermaid that many will be familiar with in the Musical family festive edition produced at The Watermill Theatre this year. Adapted by Lara Barbier and Elgiva Field from the original story created by Hans Christian Anderson.

The Little Mermaid, Merryn played by Annabelle Aquino lives in the Royal Underwater Kingdom in the British waters around the coastline of Cornwall. The local fishermen are under threat from large trawlers aggressively invading their territory and scooping up large hauls of fish leaving the locals with smaller catches and lesser revenue.

With the dwindling catches some of the younger fishermen like Cadan (Tom Babbage) are thinking about moving away for work. However, after being saved in after being washed overboard by a mysterious creature and encountering Merryn he starts to rethink his decision.

King Taran (Christopher Staines) is also facing disruption in his underwater kingdom by the large trawlers that are infiltrating the Cornish coastline waters. Fearing for his family’s safety, he issues orders to his three children to dive deeper and stay there until the threat passes.

A special mention has to go to Zach Burns whose role as Merryn’s younger brother brings the majority of the one-liner humour to the production. He has a cheeky innocent charm and perfect comedy delivery to break up tense moments.

Set designer April Dalton uses the smaller stage at The Watermill to its full potential the water surface is the stage backdrop where the mermaids appear from leaving the rest of the staged area built up to predominantly represent the Cornish fishing port and when required the underwater kingdom.

The older primary school children in the auditorium were far more engaged in the storyline than the younger ones, due to the depth and details of what was going on in the storyline. I overheard one child ask “What is a smuggler” I realise how lucky I was growing up reading adventure stories.

I attended a matinee performance and booked in for lunch before the performance. I can highly recommend their festive menu, it was delicious especially the in-house baked bread. Although I do suggest booking in advance as it gets very busy.

For more information about The Little Mermaid and future productions at The Watermill Theatre in Newbury please use the link below.

Four Stars.

Photo credit Pamela Raith.

https://www.watermill.org.uk/