The Place, London
December 21, 2024
The Little Prince is an esoteric story, written by French author Antoine de Saint Exupéry, and first published in 1943. It is a coming-of-age tale, during which the title character visits different planets, and meets a collection of animals and people, who each have a lesson to teach him.
Luca Slivestrini, founder and artistic director of Protein, has created a dance-drama which flows seamlessly from one section of the story to the next. The four actor-dancers, Karl Fagerlund Brekke, Donna Lennard, Mette Nilsen, and Simon Palmer, who also helped devise the show, perform with skill and conviction. However, there is something missing.
Photo Jane Hobson
While the video effects by Daniel Denton are a standout, clear, amusing, and with an excellent text/commentary alongside, designer Yann Seabra’s set feels too simple. It comprises several white globes representing planets, which are reconfigured throughout the piece. Colours when they do appear, are muted. The lighting misses opportunities to create the impression of flying through space.
The choreography, by assistant director Valentina Golfieri, starts by being innovative, and very well crafted to suit the piece. Unfortunately, there is a fair bit of repetition.
But what of the youngsters? I had my grandchildren, 6-yrs and 8-yrs, in tow. They both enjoyed the show, but were heard to ask about ten minutes before the end, when it would be finished. That seems significant. A little pruning would not come amiss. Seventy-five minutes did feel too long, exacerbated by a completely unnecessary coda of the performers throwing paper planes at the audience. The Little Prince is a fine show and worth seeing, but I was left feeling it could have been so much more.