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Into the Hoods
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Novello Theatre, Aldwych, London, WC2B 4LD
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Rating:
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© Hugo Glendinning
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- If you go ‘Into the Hoods’ tonight, you’re in for a big surprise. Who knew that life on Britain’s inner-city estates so closely mirrored the plots of several famous fairytales? In ZooNation’s hit street-dance show (which borrows the idea, but not much else, of Sondheim’s musical ‘Into the Woods’), Li’l Red and the Wolf are an aspiring singer and a grasping producer; Rap-on-Zel is the landord’s grounded daughter, and DJ Spinderella wants to man the decks at the Prince’s ball.
Entertaining transpositions all – but director/choreographer Kate Prince’s show isn’t really about the stories. In this version, there’s nothing scary or resonant about these classic tales, and the Ruff Endz estate seems like Butlins next to all those enchanted forests of yore. That’s because ‘Into the Hoods’ is all about the dancing, and the steamroller spirit of its young company. The dialogue and narration are all pre-recorded; so are the non-stop, chopped-up songs, from the likes of Prince, Kanye West, Roots Manuva and, er, Coldplay. That leaves the cast free to spin, jerk and flip in remarkable, fluid displays of bendy-limbed mobility.
I wanted more – bigger, more intense, more euphoric – dancing, and for it, I would have happily sacrificed the workaday storytelling, which involves two truant schoolkids collecting four gifts for Rap-on-Zel’s eighteenth birthday. The show flirts with a downbeat climax, as if to prove that, in real life, there are no fairy-tale endings. But this isn’t real life. It is, in its own way, as much a soft-hearted fantasy as any West End musical. It’s also studded with funny, pugnacious set-pieces: a Loony Toons-meets-‘The Matrix’ kung fu fight between hero Jaxx and drug-dealer Giant; Spinderella’s ugly stepmum lip-synching to Whitney Houston. And it’s performed by a lithe and dynamic company whose own excitement is pretty difficult to resist.
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Details
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Novello Theatre, Aldwych, London, WC2B 4LD
- 0870 040 0046
- Category: West End
- Times: Mon-Sat 7.30pm, Wed & Sat Mat 3pm
- Price: £15-£39.50. Booking to June 7
- Tube: Covent Garden/Holborn
Other shows on tonight
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Hairspray, Shaftesbury Theatre
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Brief Encounter, Cinema on the Haymarket
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Jersey Boys, Prince Edward Theatre
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Never So Good, National Theatre, Lyttelton
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Into the Hoods, Novello Theatre
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King Lear, Shakespeare's Globe
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Pygmalion, Old Vic
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A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare's Globe
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The Revenger's Tragedy, National Theatre, Olivier
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The Chalk Garden, Donmar Warehouse
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The Merry Wives of Windsor, Shakespeare's Globe
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Pygmalion, Old Vic
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Black Watch, Barbican Theatre
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The Merry Wives of Windsor, Shakespeare's Globe
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BodyClock, White Bear Theatre
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All shows on tonight
4 comments
Excellent performances I would not say it was the best dance performance I have seen because I went to watch Boy Blue perform last year and they were on the same level which was 100 out of 100 for performance so they were both the best performances I have ever seen lol... I really want to see it again actually.... Well done to everyone who took part you sure did do a fantastic job mwah mwah mwah x
I went to see this for a school trip. It was great. I loved all the dancing, it made me wish I could dance like that and I'm only 10 years old I want to watch it again and again and again!
We went to see this last night and it was amazing, so much fun and the dancers blew us away! Do not miss this.
I thought it was absolutely amasing! I took with me a 14 year old, i'm 40 and we both adored it! Best dance show i have seen in London for a long time!