Festive fairytale fun for families with The Little Mermaid
Families can dive into a world of magic and music with The Little Mermaid in Nottingham next month.
Based on the classic fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen, it tells of a mermaid who dreams of a life on the land but finds herself out of her depth when her dreams finally come true.
Notts-born actor Hannah Breedon makes her professional stage debut as Marina the Mermaid. Making a splash as an array of different characters, including Marina’s best friend Sullivan the Turtle, is Ollie West, an actor, comedian and clown, who trained at the renowned École Philippe Gaulier.
The play runs at Nottingham Playhouse from Thursday December 4 to Saturday January 3.
Director Alessandra Davison said: “I’m thrilled to be starting rehearsals for this new version of The Little Mermaid. We’re very lucky to have cast two incredibly talented actors, Ollie and Hannah, who I know will thrill audiences with the energy and humour they bring to the characters.
“We can’t wait to all get in the room together and start bringing the production to life.”
Playhouse artistic director Adam Penford said: “Nottingham Playhouse has been creating work especially for children for decades. It’s often the first experience children have of watching live theatre, which introduces them to a whole world of storytelling and ways of making sense of the world. And that’s more important than ever when arts subjects are getting cut in schools.
“Our talented creative team are creating a really exciting new version of this classic story, full of fun and wonder, and we can’t wait to have young audiences dive into it.”
The designer for the show is Emma Howson, a Nottingham Trent University graduate who was announced as the winner of the Playhouse Prize earlier this year. The prize gives recent graduates their first professional job after training, which is producing the costume and set designs for the Christmas show for younger children in the Neville Studio.
Especially created for children aged three to eight, this new 50-minute version of The Little Mermaid promises magical music, playful puppets and plenty of opportunities to join in.
The show also incorporates Creative Captioning, which uses simple imagery on a screen to highlight key points in the story, making it more accessible to children who are hard of hearing or have issues with auditory processing. There are also fully captioned and BSL Interpreted performances.
Visit nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk or call 0115 941 9419 to book.