The Scottish premiere of Sofie Krog Teater’s The House is precisely the sort of joyfully innovative stuff which first made me a Manipulate fan.
It’s impossible not to be impressed by the grand doll’s house greeting you on your way into the theatre. Floating in darkness, and illumined in muted pastel shades, the two-storey pile bearing the sign ‘CREMATORIUM’ promises much.
Fortunately, puppeteers-extraordinaire Sofie Krog and David Faraco have the adventure to match up their sleeves (or the tips of their dextrous fingers, whichever you prefer.) Pitched somewhere between classic continental farce, Ealing comedy and Alfred Hitchcock, The House is a superb horror-comedy caper.
“No shortcuts here, no lazy approximations, The House looks as good from the front row as the back.”
It all begins on the deathbed of an aged undertaker, and a change of heart as to who will inherit her funereal business. Out of the running are her feckless nephew Henry and his amoral, cigar-chewing wife Flora, in are the undertaker’s long-lost children Tony and Bruno Panini. Strongly dissatisfied, Flora hunts out the poison and plans a forgery.
The puppets themselves are excellent, each sporting an animated face, full of character, and brought to life through clever voice-acting and highly idiosyncratic, impressively precise movements.
However, it’s the house itself which sets The House apart, from the cunningly furnished and lit interiors through the careful engineering of each door and window. No shortcuts here, no lazy approximations, The House looks as good from the front row as the back. For maximum impact, you’d want to sit as dead-on to the set as possible, but my eyes were more than satisfied from ‘the wings’.
It’s a setting ripe for things going bump in the night, and they do, with Cuco Pérez’s atmospheric soundtrack providing the suitably cinematic cherry on the cake.
Narratively, there are enough gruesome moments involving axes and furnaces to please the bloodthirsty, and an abundance of laugh-out-loud gags to keep the humour-hunter giggling away from start to finish.
The audience’s first meeting with Tony and Bruno is just one of several stunning set pieces, a delicious mix of Mission Impossible and the Three Stooges. As luck would have it, they’ve come to rob Flora of her ill-gotten games, but fate, and their long-lost mother have bigger plans for them. If only Tony can get past his pathological fear of dead bodies…
Other vignettes pay homage to horror-thrillers of the past and present, a touch of Psycho here, Take Me to Hell there, and lashings of Scooby-Doo.
“Funny, surprising, impressive and compelling, Sofie Krog Teater’s outstanding The House is an experience not to miss.”
For The Dog is unquestionably the show’s principal hero, his devotion to his doomed mistress transcending death in the most surprising of ways. Charming, hilarious and furry, the puppet woofs its way into the audience’s affections very easily. The canine’s transformations during the play are also a feat of small-scale practical effects.
However, The House has bigger tricks up its sleeve, each deployed with flare, and an excellent sense of timing. Indeed, little separates Krog and Faraco’s show from perfection, except for an element of Deus-ex-Machina to its climax. It’s a pity, as till then, The House is meticulous in establishing the rules of its world and playing by them.
This is a small criticism when set against the show’s technical and imaginative achievements. Funny, surprising, impressive and compelling, Sofie Krog Teater’s outstanding The House is an experience not to miss.
The House is produced by Sofie Krog Teater with support from The Danish Arts Foundation
Show Details
Dates: 2-3 February 2024
Showtimes:
- 2 February 2024 at 6:00pm
- 3 February 2024 at 1:00pm
Age Recommendation: 13+
Running Time: 55 minutes (no interval)
Accessibility
- Wheelchair Accessible Venue
- Wheelchair Accessible Toilet
- Audio Enhancement System
