I just got back from London last night after a great trip.  I love London at any time of the year, but there’s a special magic about the Christmas season; the city – literally – lights up.

My travelling companion J and I both agreed that the highlight of our holiday was a visit to the Grimm Tales theatre production at the Bargehouse in Oxo Tower Wharf on the Southbank. This is an amazing space and was a fabulous evening’s entertainment.  Of all the places we saw and things we did on our trip, this is the one that lingers.

Grimm Tales is playing until February 15th, 2015 and if you haven’t seen it, I can highly recommend it.

I was unable to take photos during the performance, but afterwards you are encouraged to explore the four floors of the old warehouse where the production takes place. The audience is split up into groups and each one sees five out of six of Grimm’s tales.  (Thousandfurs, The Three Little Men in the Woods, The Frog King, Faithful Johannes, Hansel and Gretel and The Goose Girl at the Spring).

Sitting mere feet away from the performers, you are drawn into their world; for the twenty minutes or so of each individual story, you are right there with the characters. Adapted by Philip Pullman (The Golden Compass), this is no Disneyfied retelling of these old stories. When  one tale ends, the lights go up and you are shepherded up a magical flight of stairs in the four-story building into yet another enchanted setting.

This is not a production for very young children – there is a darkness that might frighten some –  but for the right child of the right age (or any adult) it’s sheer magic.

Reviews for Grimm Tales:

http://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/grimm-tales-3

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/11265380/Grimm-Tales-for-Young-and-Old-The-Bargehouse-London-review-dreamlike.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/peter-yeung/grimm-tales_b_6302860.html