Beauty and the Beast

There are several moments of real charm in the CADA production of Beauty and the Beast at the Everyman Palace. Most of them are due to the younger members of the cast, especially in the carefully-arranged ensemble presentation of No Matter What where the very young singers display a disciplined medley of individual and choral voices. While Jean Elliot could have been given a little more to do as Beauty, what is available to her she does very well indeed and another well-balanced performance comes from Lucy Martin as the Zany Fairy.

All the efforts of the cast and of director Catherine Mahon-Buckley, however, can make little or no headway against the obstacles of an unimaginative script and amplification levels pitched at disco strength, even for dialogue. This strident barricade of sound, and an entire polar ice-cap of dry ice, obscure much that is energetic and committed in the production.