For a large cast, the University Theatre is a tricky space to negotiate. The seating, part of an old lecture theatre, is steeply raked and the performing space itself is shallow, with limited access. A first impression of this production though, was how well the awkwardness had been overcome. For the audience becomes part of the mountain wall into which the fated children of Hamelin followed the magician Piper and the stage itself is transformed into a cleverly perspectived street with many entrances. 

Professional performers in key roles, with a versatile tribe of young’uns capering about, undertake this re-telling of the sad and cautionary legend. Framed as a memory play, it is introduced by an aged descendant, played by Helen Moran. Sometimes the words are hers, sometimes those of the lively Robert Browning poem and sometimes they are lived out in jaunty dialogue from the enthusiastic cast. 

Norman Forsey, as the greedy and conniving Mayor, has a high old time of it, colouring the role with pantomime intensity. He is surrounded by ‘found’ roles from the poem and legend, the ‘ladies’ of the town, the parents, the councillors – and of course the mysterious man with the twinkly eye and magic pipe himself. 

All good stuff, inventive and entertaining, allowing for the spread of experience onstage. The weakest link in the show is its musical dimension. Whereas the spoken word always works for it, the recorded accompaniments, sometimes with vocals, do not and the problem of cuing is an additional pitfall. The worst disappointment is to see the magic pipe held to the Piper’s lips and no live sound emerge. 

Perhaps this reservation hits old cynics in a way the young audience, for whom the production is after all intended, do not notice. For the momentum of the story is undeniable and the invitation to dance on the streets of this Hamelin afterwards was well received. 

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