Gaiety Theatre ****

“Sit with me, friends, and we’ll wait for something to happen,” the devil teases the audience in the opening moments of The Wild Bride. It isn’t long before the devil himself (Stuart McLoughlin), ringmaster and narrator of Kneehigh’s exuberant fairy tale, begins to make mischief, when he spies a nameless young girl he starts seeking as prize.

The Wild Brideis southern Gothic meets circus glee, and the skilled ensemble blend dance and acrobatic floor work with a seedy bluegrass score that is as comic as it is atmospheric, creating a sense of tension that never quite settles on the playful. As with all fairy tales, metaphorical meaning runs deeper than the surface story, and there are darker resonances to the three near-mute and totally transformative incarnations of the eponymous bride – the Girl (Audrey Bresson), the Wild (Patrycja Kujawaska) and the Woman (Éva Magyar) – who, although denied self-expression, manage to seize power from the controlling men in their lives to become the architects of their own happy ending. That said, the crude Scottish-themed seduction is the show-stealing scene.

Originally staged in Kneehigh's marquee home in Cornwall, Etta Murfitt's set evokes the company's circus-tent origins, with guy ropes that act as pulleys for a variety of props and a triangular canvas-backed platform that acts as a second stage. Indeed, the production's greatest weakness on its Dublin outing is the formal venue of the Gaiety Theatre, which dilutes much of the come-all-ye invocation of the production's opening set pieces. Towards the end of the performance, however, director Emma Rice pushes the actors outside of the proscenium – eventually into the auditorium – ensuring The Wild Bride'sinclusive intentions are at least fulfilled for the finale.

The Wild Brideis much less dark than its synopsis might suggest, but that enhances rather than diminishes the show. A delight for all ages.

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