The Dark is an extraordinary adaptation of a picture book by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Jon Klassen, and with that heritage, you know it’s going to be a little weird. Excitingly, Peut-Être Theatre Company embraces that entirely, in a thrillingly entertaining yet deftly layered production for ages 4+, adapted and directed by Daphna Attias.
We’re introduced to a small boy called Laszlo who is scared of the dark. Each morning, he peeks into the basement to say hello to it, thinking that if he visits it there, it won’t come into his room. It’s an understandable experience for many children, and this sensitively crafted work gives it appropriate respect as it entertains. The performance additionally demonstrates easy techniques to empower youngsters to cope with their fears and hopefully overcome them.
The show is designed to be accessible to any audience, and access features are woven in from the very start, where the talented cast of Charlie Hendren (Laszlo) and Ellie Isherwood (The Dark) spend several minutes audio-describing who the characters are that they play, what to expect from the music and sound, along with the appearance of the set. Together with the audience, they try out what darkness feels like, the house lights fading out, then back up. With the children themselves thus empowered with knowledge, any potential fear is diluted before they encounter it again in Laszlo’s wonderfully weird imagination.
The flexible set design by Stewart J Chalesworth is perfectly suggestive of Klassen’s illustrations, with huge sloping doors ominously hinting at the cellar where the Dark hides, and translucent boxes that bring flexibility and movement to the performance. Jo Palmer’s lighting design supplements the staging brilliantly as darkness is perceived differently in Laszlo’s playing. His lively interaction with light and shade makes shadows fun rather than frightening. Fabulous physical movement and visuals bring thrills and comedy, but they also give emotional clarification. Further sensory layering sees superb sonic storytelling helping tell the tale through music (Yaniv Fridel and Isherwood) and Foley sounds, making it even more accessible and really fun.
Hendren and Isherwood are enchantingly charismatic performers, slipping easily between their characters and themselves as actors. Hendren’s Laszlo is a curious, playful child. Funny and agile, he has the audience laughing out loud with his acrobatic antics. Then, the darkness we meet in Isherwood’s character is not the frightening and inescapable presence the young boy imagines, but elegant, glittery and fun. It’s all played with a delicious sense of the surreal, which creates a space where we can reflect differently on what we think we know and reimagine it as manageable.
The story discusses living alongside fears and identifying the abilities that you already have to deal with anxiety. Laszlo learns to use his senses to better understand his relationship with the dark, touching walls and the floor to find certainty, listening to sounds and identifying what’s making them, while his torch provides light if he needs reassurance. Knowledge is power. And The Dark is there to help him in this learning process, eventually seen in a new way herself, and no longer scary.
Some children in the audience confessed to being frightened of the dark initially, but left laughing and applauding, having been guided through an expertly managed adventure. Crucially, come the end of Laszlo’s night, a new day dawns with new thinking, and that’s a wonderfully reassuring conclusion.
This is a bold, beautiful and downright useful performance from a company who clearly care about their audience and add richness to great entertainment through their expertise. It’s simply top-of-the-range theatre for children that will light everyone’s face up.
The Dark is based on the book by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Jon Klassen
Adapted & Directed by Daphna Attias
Design: Stewart J Chalesworth
Lighting Design: Jo Palmer
Costume Design Amy Jackson
Music: Yaniv Fridel and Ellie Isherwood
Movement Director: Ayse Tashkiran
Dramaturg: Maya Politaki
Access Consultant: Chris Campion
Producer: Bridie Donaghy
Technical Stage Manager: Tom Clutterbuck
The Dark is aimed at ages 4+ and plays at Battersea Arts Centre until Saturday 31 October.
