Coming Of Age In Oscar Wilde's The Young King

The Young King is an exotic, magical masterpiece which incorporates gentle, intimate moments and captivating elements. The gentle, touching language of Oscar Wilde was interpreted beautifully into the performance, instantly the space set a delicate, fairy-tale mood. The production deals with the key theme of “coming of age” as the Young King deals with emotions and the finery of his new title prior to his coronation. Arriving at the King’s palace via a shopping felt incredibly intriguing, the playful crafting of the crowns was a gentle embrace which instantly felt welcoming and warm. The performance demonstrated contemporary style of theatre with hints of surrealism, the space created a beautiful, spiritual atmosphere. Tim Overton and Jacqy

Two actors took on the whole body of the production. The whole time viewers were left wondering if other actors would join Philips and Overton onstage. Other actors welcomed and guided audience members into the production and they stood back silently viewing as the production unfolded, just like audience members. Philips who played Irene on Home and Who without costumes manipulated herself magnificently into a variety of different characters; she took on the princess, the desperate villagers, the masters, the evil spirits and, most impressively the old, battered king himself. Her fragile, crackling movement when taking on the role of the old king was tremendously impressive as she tottered carefully about the palace, bent over like a grasshopper. Tim Overton, a boyish charming man gave an excellent interpretation of a young king. The way he welcomed the audience and held his character and expressed emotion was very well done. He delivered a great performance, he heightened the idea of a young 16 year old boy so intrigued and fascinated by the promise of being king, he orders rubies, pears, a robe of tissued gold, and a crown. The Young King began to grow a strong obsession over these beautiful things. Overton portrayed a young boy so divulged in his fate. He then comes to the realisation that the magnificent things he longs for come at a cruel cost to others after he experiences nightmares prior to his coronation that show him the

The areas the audience were led through were beautifully decorated, the space was the production was performed was gorgeous and the secret garden-like space the audience was led to at the end of the production was lovely. The space above Myers was once, many years ago a two storey, billon dollar amusement park known as Dazzle land. Wendy Todd the set designed and lighting designer Geoff Cobham brilliantly brought an iconic space back to life for a whole new purpose bringing a whole new level and meaning to theatre. The lighting and special effects were mesmerising, the whole performance kept the audience so perfectly captivated, whirled into a whole new world of delicacy and dreams. The dim lighting helped hold the dream like feeling, the bright lights added to the surreal atmosphere adding colour and liveliness where necessary. Shadow puppetry was a theatrical element that was so different and captivating, it helped transport the audience to wherever they needed to be throughout the story. The Young King became objects through the shadow puppetry, he took us with him casting shadows on each wall as he ventures from one world to the next. The pianist who sat proudly beautifully matched the recorded music through his piano. He astoundingly played without any written music in front of him. The music added to the mood and atmosphere, the sounds were soft and then grew to add suspense and direction throughout the duration of the