HAMLYN

Verbal Arts - 23 & 24 May 2013 | 8pm | £5.00 | 18+
Warning: This play deals with highly sensitive adult themes of a potentially disturbing nature

at Crescent Arts Centre

Juan Mayorga gives the Grimm Brother’s fairy tale a modern twist to reveal a new plague, the economic and institutionalised exploitation of children in this sadly all too prevalent and timely production of ‘Hamlyn’.

Based on a true story, the townspeople of Hamelin were stricken by a horrible event in the 13th Century. The town’s youth suffered an epidemic, the nature of which is unclear. Historians dispute the cause of the epidemic, some claiming an infestation of rats and that these rodents caused an outbreak of bubonic plague.
Others believe that it was the Black Death which claimed so many young lives. Whatever happened to the children of Hamelin, it seems to have been traumatising enough for the people to produce this tale.

Mayorga creates for the audience a theatre noir experience, reminiscent of the film noir genre, echoes of dirty streets, poverty, shadowy lighting, cries and fears of the heart. The intensity of this exquisitely written play makes demands on both the actors and audience alike due to the sparse theatricality of the drama and subject matter. Mayorga’s metaphor of the Pied Piper as a charismatic person who attracts followers and offers strong but delusive enticement teaches us that we would all do well to take heed of the lessons from this cautionary tale.