Review of ‘The Little Prince’: “What is essential is invisible to the eye, but should be shown someway”

The Cockpit Theatre hosts this new adaptation of the classic children’s novel, combining puppetry and mime to bring its fanciful world from the page onto the stage. Guillermo Nazara shares his views on the show, to let us know if in this reimagined take everything ends up coming up roses.

It may not be the first time that I open a review by quoting Walt Disney, as he discussed the success of Snow White. But it seems like the right time to bring that statement back – and very evidently so. When he was asked about how he managed to take the world by storm and literally turn adults into kids all over again, his reply was fairly simple: “We don’t think of grownups, and we don’t think of children. But just of that fine, clean, unspoiled spot down deep in every one of us, that maybe the world has made us forget.”

The same goes to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s book classic, whose ongoing appeal has stolen the hearts and captured the imagination of so many generations for 80 years now. It’s not the first time that the piece is brought to the stage, either. In fact, it’s only been a month since its latest version tread the boards at the London Coliseum. But now, it’s time for The Cockpit to welcome a new taker of the story, in a production combining puppetry and mime to bring the ageless tale back to life.

Delivered by the Liminal Space company, this adaptation carries out a faithful interpretation of the original material: same characters, same plot, and several excerpts replicated almost verbatim scene by scene. The novel is roughly 140 pages; its theatrical counterpart, barely 75 minutes. It makes sense on the page (no pun intended). It’s aimed at a younger audience, and there’s as much as you can push before they lose interest in what they’re seeing. But that idea should entail a different approach to the work, so it can breathe and function in its own right.

There are some aspects in this production that are worth of acknowledgement – the pacing, though, not being one of those. Parts of its design are actually quite striking – especially, for a fringe piece. Its use of projections, chalkboard drawings, marionettes, and physical acts to build the scenography is rather refreshing. Yet, we can’t help but feeling as if none of those elements have been exploited enough – instead, just put altogether as a melange of possibilities, where their potential is hinted, but never fulfilled.

On the whole, the show lacks a stylistic identity – with all its components still not merging together into a proper synthesis. The absence of dynamism when transitioning from one planet to another also compromises the flow of the performance, while the lighting, though elegant at some points, doesn’t bring out the whimsicality that the plot requires.

The cast makes a laudable effort at heightening the performance’s engagement, though not every rendition flaunts the same level of stamina, commitment, and flair in their execution. In any case, we can anyway save some praise for Matt Tylianakis as The Pilot, as well as Cicely Halkes-Wellstead as The Geographer and Thisakya Dias in the title role – all of whom boast charm, presence, and some degree of chemistry in their portrayals.

True beauty lies in the simplest things in life. Like the single rose that blooms in The Little Prince’s asteroid planet, this recent stage version parts from the excellent concept of letting the viewer’s creativity fill the gaps between what’s told and what they see. However, this vision is not as fanciful as we may wish. And because of that, no matter how much they may invite us to dream, the fantasy struggles to materialize. It’s not enough to just talk about magic, you have to bring it on somehow.

The Little Prince plays at London’s The Cockpit Theatre until 12 April. Tickets are available on the following link.

By Guillermo Nazara