A magical re-telling of the story of Beauty and the Beast, first performed in this version by the Royal Shakespeare Company. When Beauty's father hears that his long-lost ship packed with pearls has landed safely in harbour, he sets out on a long, difficult journey to claim his fortune and rescue his family from poverty. But when, stumbling across a magic world belonging to a fearsome beast, he picks a rose as a present for his favourite daughter, the family find themselves in a nightmarish predicament from which only Beauty can rescue them... This timeless tale of the true nature of beauty and the transformational power of love is brought to glorious life in Laurence Boswell's thrilling and inventive adaptation, which draws on the origins of the tale in French folklore, and is filled with music, dance and song. Laurence Boswell's much-performed retelling of the classic fairytale was first performed at the Young Vic, London, in 1996. It was revived, in this revised version, by the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2003.
"'An emotive play, dealing with a subject that resonates in the current climate... it would be easy to sensationalise, but Hannan's writing ensures it steers clear of that path, making it, if anything, more chilling... like Powell in his heydey, it is hypnotising. It is simultaneously thoughtful, thought-provoking and difficult to watch'"
The Reviews Hub
"'A visceral play… Powell seems from another age except that some of his concerns, Islamic fundamentalism and the disenfranchised working class, are the stuff of Brexit Britain'"
The Times
"'Chilling... the most provocative theatrical act of the decade'"
