‘When i’m Sixteen, Im Gunna Fly…!’ Hex, Olivier National Theatre, London 19.12.2022

You’d be forgiven for being unfamiliar with Hex. Only in its second run at the National Theatre, with the first being blighted by repeated bouts of covid amongst the original company, this new musical based on Sleeping Beauty is arguably still finding its feet. Not that you’d know it based on the seamless performance I saw.

Taken from the National Theatre website: Deep in the wood, a lonely fairy longs for someone to
bless. When she is summoned to the palace to help the princess sleep, her dream turns into a
nightmare and her blessing becomes a curse. Soon, she is plunged into a frantic, hundred-year quest to somehow make everything right. I will try not to give too much of the story away in what follows! We were promised colourful and big-hearted and that’s exactly what we got. Credit to Katrina Lindsay for her dazzling set and costume design, which I absolutely adored. I was excited from the moment I walked into the auditorium and saw the stage. There were spinning wheels and ladders everywhere, and a castle suspended in the air towards the back. Enter our fairies from above in red, green and blue dresses that are probably three times the length of them, our main Fairy in her fabulously frilly white costume, and a whole host of other creatures, and the magic has truly begun. This isn’t the Disney Sleeping Beauty story that you’re used to. It is much closer to the Charles Perrault 1500s version, but with its own unique twist.

The main character Fairy, played by Lisa Lambe, is an outcast from the other fairies because she cannot fly and has to live on the ground with the beasts. Her chance comes to bless the princess, but when she is mocked at the palace her anger leads her to turn it into a curse. Lisa Lambe stuns in this role. Her acting is superb, giving Fairy a very quirky and unique character. When she sings ‘The One’, her first solo number, you get to see just how powerful her voice is; it has such a distinctive, melodic tone.

Victoria Hamilton-Barritt – who plays Queenie, the mother of Bert (our hero prince) – also has a terrific voice, which somehow makes you feel Queenie’s moments of melancholy deep in your soul. I was truly impressed by the strength of it and hope I get to see her in another role that showcases it soon. Completing our trio of strong lady leads was Rosie Graham as Rose. Given that she spends most of Act One dormant, her time to shine comes in Act Two. Her meeting with Bert, and later with his mother, are comically awkward. She too has a good voice, delivering some strong duets with Queenie and Bert respectively.

Poor Bert gets pulled between these three – his mother, ‘Auntie’ Fairy, and his love interest Rose
thoughout. He is a slightly hapless hero, trying to people please everyone until he takes a firmer
hand towards the end of the show. Michael Elcock was a great choice for this role, delivering the
right combination of bravado and hilarity so that you don’t feel the story is too soppy.

I admit I was a little unsure what to expect of Hex as a whole, but apart from the spectacular music, costumes and set this production delivered a lot of comedy. The anguish experienced by the King and Queen – Rose’s parents, played by Kody Mortimer and Neima Naouri – when they cannot get their daughter to sleep takes an amusing (and dangerous) turn as people try to advise the Queen. Any new mother could sympathise with her plight. The Thorns provide plenty of laughs in the constant efforts to keep the Princes from Rose, but my favourite funny moment by far is when the Princes sing ‘One of These Days’, about their failed attempts to win Rose’s heart.

All in all, Hex is weird and completely wonderful. It was great to see a different twist on Sleeping
Beauty, which included some of the darker elements of the old fairytale versions, but which
somehow managed to remain joyous throughout. The whole cast and production team should pat themselves on the back for a job thoroughly well done.

Hex is running until Saturday 14 January 2023 so there is still time to catch it if you can. Tickets can be found on the National Theatre website Here