Review: Red Riding Hood, fun, imaginative, quirky, innovative, fab staging, performance and dance

I loved Red Riding Hood which is on at the Masque in Muizenberg, Cape Town. The dates are December 13 -22, 2024 and January 8-12, 2025. This is the Masque’s annual fairytale production, presented over the festive season. Once again Faeron Wheeler is in the director’s seat and she has also done the superb adaption. Not only is Red Riding Hood fun, energetic and entertaining, the production is framed around a plot (yes, a very cool plot), with narrative lines (which veers considerably from the usual Red Riding Hood) which hold one’s attention.

The idea behind the Masque’s festive season fairytale production is to take much loved tales and shake them up, turn the stories on their heads. With Red Riding Hood, Wheeler has gone beyond tweaking the tale and sending up stereotypes. She has created a clever and inspired plot. In this tale, the villagers in town and the wolves in the woods have become enemies, each intent on the other’s destruction. The villagers are fixated with their mobile devices and locking in moments on social media. They don’t see the “other”, the creatures on the fringes of the town, in nature. The wolves are wallowing in the dark forest with no air. In this mix, enters Red (aka Red Riding Hood) and Lykana, the Wolf Princess. Qondèa Avril Mkansi plays Red. Tithonia Roux plays the Wolf Princess. Lykana and Red unite in friendship and rise above the discord, steering their elders to peace – a peace treaty.

Red’s grandma Nawaal Adams was once mayor and comes from a long line of mayors and she hopes that Red will follow in the steps of her son, the mayor (Ethan Wilson). The Wolf King (Matthew do Santos), dad of Lykana tries to dump his fears and anxieties on his Wolf Princess daughter. There is a delicious reversal in this adaption, in the scene where the Wolf is disguised in Grandma’s clothing. I am not going to plot spoil. There is a kicker of a twist in the ending which acts as a foil to the sweet notion that we all want to be friends and live happily after. It does all end well, but the ending is a class act. Wolvena (Lisa Fontaine- Rainen), you rock. I see a best actor nomination for this bonsai role – and for Red and the Wolf Princess – and for the other principals.

The main principals, Red (Qondèa Avril Mkansi) and Tithonia Roux (Lykana) make up a feisty and sassy pair of determined heroines, resisting stereotypes. Nawaal Adams as Grandma, ex-mayor and narrator is a force in her white sneakers as she wheedles her son, the mayor. Ethan Wilton as the Mayor Andrew Munnik as King Jeremiah, Leyya Haarhoff (Patricia- you crack us up with your droll delivery) and Wayne Ronne (George) are a delight as they get deep in character. They work well with the accomplished ensemble – all of them singing their hearts out and dancing (terrific choreography by Shaun Klaasen, see featured image on this page). Thee performers also do stunning howls – as in the howls of wolves.

Excellent musical direction by Claire Thomson and Linley Meavers. A great deal of thought has gone into their song playlist, in consultation with Faeron Wheeler. For instance, looking at friendship and learning to live together which underpins the resolving of Red Riding Hood, rather than going for a cheesy “friends” song, they wrap up the finale with Let’s Get Loud by Jennifer Lopez. Watch the clip on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/share/r/19uP7q8XZm/ or on TikTok https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMk2G7xqh/ Read about their insights in putting the music together for Red Riding Hood: https://thecaperobyn.co.za/interview-the-masques-red-riding-hood-dipping-a-classic-fairy-tale-in-glitter-setting-it-to-a-pop-playlist-everyone-secretly-sings-in-the-shower/

I enjoyed the set design (Anika Prins and Keith Coulson, constructed by Daniel Enticott). It is fabulous to see “sets”, physical manifestions, rather than audio visuals on a screen. The magic of creating theatre – evolving scenes and situations – is evoked in the way the sets are flipped around – signaling shifts between town and forest and other situations. It is great the way the cast move components around. There is no attempt to conceal that this is a play. It is theatre. There are moments of clunk with stage hands, clumping on and off but it adds to the spirit of making theatre. Lighting design (Gary Fargher, lighting operators Gabriel Goldstein and Gail Fargher) heightens the scenic design. The forest lighting is beautiful. The chandelier from pervious fairytale productions at the Masque, makes a grand entrance. Faeron Wheeler told me that they have always included the chandelier in a the ballroom scene in the Masque fairytales. There is no ballroom scene in RRH, but no worries the chandelier is inserted into the action, bringing bling and glam to Red Riding Hood.

Overall the performance in Red Riding Hood is strong. The singing is could do with more projection. I feel that the production is a tad too long. Perhaps a song could have been cut from each half – bearing in mind that this is a show geared for young audiences.

I always appreciate the joy, exuberance and passion of community theatre productions. Thespians and creatives who have day jobs are doing theatre for the love of it – without monetary reward. Community theatre is dependent on the availability of performers and creatives, so I usually enjoy the productions, no matter how “good” they are. With this production, I rave. Wheeler and team have created a production of excellence. Red Riding Hood  is fun, imaginative, quirky, innovative with fab staging, performance and dance. Don’t miss.

✳ The cast in Red Riding Hood at The Masque at the Masque in Cape Town, December 13 -22, 2024 and from January 8-12, 2025.