My interest in seeing the work of Fourth Monkey comes from their approach to training. The company run their own one or two year course with an emphasis on ensemble practice, where participants pay to train and have access to performance opportunities such as this show Hansel and Gretel, written by Toby Clarke (Sketty Theatre). The audience for this production comprised of mainly young people who seemed to engage reasonably well with what turned out to be challenging and at times complex material including themes of incest and sexual violence, all narrated by two seemingly sweet but frequently profane girls. All of this is framed by a sub-narrative which explores the life of Antonin Artaud, and the piece itself is performed in what the company consider to be an Artaudian style, incorporating  taboo subject matter,  primal sound effects and a sometimes confrontational delivery.

There was much in the re-telling of this well-known fairy tale, part of the company’s Grimm season, to hold one’s interest, including energetic and committed performances from the protagonists and slick ensemble playing that helped to enliven the piece. This is well-honed and controversial material, performed with conviction by an energetic cast of varying abilities.  Some of Artaud’s key aims for his Theatre of Cruelty were also well addressed. In presenting the tale’s characters as primal beings, devoid of language and resorting instead to animalistic noises, Fourth Monkey honed in on the release of primitive instincts integral to this style. They also made an interesting reference to the pain that Artaud experienced (suffering from a range of both mental and physical disorders) as impetus for theatrical creation, punctuating the main narrative with scenes presenting his incarceration in medical facilities.

There is always a danger with this technique of taking too literal an approach to ‘cruelty’; designed as it is to be a confrontation of the darkness in human nature rather than a forum for gratuitous violence. The production trod this balance well for the most part, invoking a palpable sense of danger and risk, and only occasionally straying over the mark.  As is to be expected with an Artaudian approach, it often made for uncomfortable viewing, particularly in light of the mature themes and the relative youth of the performers, but even this was not quite enough to alleviate a few dips in the narrative when my attention wandered. The Theatre of Cruelty demands full immersion in synaesthetic world of the production, but at times the slow pacing brought me out of this absorption, however its concept and imaginative approach makes Hansel and Gretel a memorable show, drawing a visible reaction of shock from may in the audience and confidently setting out the pedagogy of this new training ensemble.