The story of Snow White usually includes the seven dwarfs but, in this show, they are nowhere to be seen because, after starring in The Hobbit, they’ve gone to Hollywood to seek more fame and fortune.

Also in this story, Snow White is a very modern girl, doing her bit to save the planet.

But she does live in a castle with her vain Stepmother the Queen (Brittany Wallis).

Also in the castle is Roger (Caleb Jago-Ward) the youthful and energetic handyman and Steward (Rebecca Parker), the Queen’s maid who ends up having divided loyalties between the Queen and Snow White.

While the Queen preens herself in front of the magic mirror being told she is the fairest in all the land, Snow White is out in the forest rescuing kakapo chicks.

There she meets Digger the Mole and Bob the Beaver, also played by Parker and Wallis. They used to work in the dwarfs’ goldmine but were made redundant when the dwarfs became film stars.

From here Rachel Henry’s clever and original adaptation follows the traditional story of the Queen, after being told by the magic mirror that Snow White is fairer than she is, making Steward lure Snow White into a cave in the forest where she becomes trapped.

But then she is rescued by Digger and Bob who let her stay in the dwarfs’ old house where the Queen, dressed as an old lady. finds her and offers her a poisoned apple.

Of course she eats it but, rather than die, she goes into a deep sleep only to be revived when kissed by a handsome young man who happens to be the handyman Roger who has secretly been in love with Snow White all along.

This endearing adaptation has lots of modern references without losing the essence of the original and, although there is not a lot of audience interaction, the story is very engaging. The young ones in the audience on the opening performance were vociferous in telling the actors what was going on and what was going to happen next.

And much of this can be attributed to the spirited performances of the actors, who, under Sarah Delahunty’s creative direction, imbue their characters with lots of energy and animation to make this a very enjoyable and entertaining school holiday production.   

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Setting this Snow White in ‘Fantasia’ allows it to be very like our place while having a Princess with a wicked stepmother Queen. The same conceit finds Digger the mole (Rebecca Parker) and Bob the builder/badger (Brittany Wallis) looking for work now that filming has finished on The Hobbit. (They like it here and don’t fancy digging in Australian mines.)  

Rachel Henry’s script, directed by Sarah Delahunty, clearly pits the vain, beauty-obsessed Queen Rosamund (Wallis) against a down-to-earth Snow White (Alice Pearce) who couldn’t care less about makeup and fashion. Her vocation grows from helping lost and injured birds and animals to saving threatened species.

She is as beautifully honest and true as the Queen is dangerously devious and false. But Roger the servant (Caleb Jago-Ward), whose day starts with polishing the magic mirror, assumes she could only love and marry a prince …

All the actors have a turn at mouthing the splendidly assertive mirror.

The Queen’s Steward (Parker) is the one with the moral dilemma, when ordered to take the unwitting usurper Snow White (declared the most beautiful in the land by a mirror that cannot lie) deep into the woods and ensure she meets with a terrible accident. Her ‘Little Voice’ (i.e. conscience) song is a high point, as is her quitting on principle. 

The other songs – ‘Being Beautiful’, ‘All the Things That You Could Do’ and ‘Easier With Two” (music by Rob Ormsby) – all break up the action well and the audience participation is appropriate and deftly handled.

As usual KidzStuff delivers a well-conceived show that cleverly counter-points the insidious role-conditioning embedded in the original tales while retaining the fantasy fulfilment and fun. That today’s kids are clearly conversant with the original story proves the importance of this work.

Footnote:  I am delighted to see KidzStuff has scheduled an adaptation of Margaret Mahy’s The Great Piratical Rumbustification for next year’s Easter holidays. 

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