Rhymed narration to replace spoken word scenes by James Robinson Planché
First performed at the BBC Proms
**** “witty new rhyming narration”
The Times
**** “witty new verse narration”
Nicholas Kenyon, The Daily Telegraph
**** “Timothy Knapman’s new narration for Oberon replaced the original dialogue… with corny, witty jingling heptameters that irresistibly bored into your brain”
Boyd Tonkin, The Arts Desk
**** (and a half) “written especially for the Proms outing by Timothy Knapman. It proved to be highly amusing, and was delivered superbly by Tamsin Greig. Sometimes, when a story is far fetched to begin with, a narration that continually reminds us of how silly the events are acts as a check on our ability to engage with what unfolds, and hence with the characters. This one got the balance right by positively revelling in all of the absurdity, and making the events clear for a modern day audience by updating some references. Lines included ‘a suitor who does not suit her’, while some of the rhymes gave a nod to ‘the chalice from the palace’ routine from the 1955 film The Court Jester.”
Music OMH
***(*) “Timothy Knapman supplies… the delicious Roald Dahl verses where Greig knows just how to score a laugh”
www.viewfromthegods.co.uk
“often funny”
The Guardian