Anansie the Spider, Unicorn Theatre 2019
Photograph: Craig Sugden | Juliet Okotie, Sapphire Joy and Afia Abusham

Review

Anansi the Spider

4 out of 5 stars
The Unicorn’s inventive trio of kids’ tales about the West African spider trickster return
  • Theatre, Children's
  • Unicorn Theatre, Tower Bridge
  • Recommended
Andrzej Lukowski
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Time Out says

This review is from 2019. Anansi the Spider returns in 2025. 

Anansi the trickster spider went global a long time ago. But Justin Audibert’s inaugural production in charge of the Unicorn takes folklore’s most famous arachnid right back to his roots.

Under Sadeysa Greenaway-Bailey’s sprawling tree set, performers Afia Abusham, Sapphire Joy and Juliet Okotie file on clutching djembe drums, wearing West African clothes and accents as they launch into a funny, energetic trio of tales.

In the first act, Anansi steals the world’s wisdom, only to reflect that this might have been a rather unwise decision; in the second he blags some vegetables from a green, er, fingered snake and cons a series of unfortunate other animals into paying the steep price demanded for the veg; the third hops to modern London – this time Anansi is a chancer who concocts an elaborate scheme to bag himself two dinners and ends up falling flat on his face.

The three women divvy up three Anansi roles for a funny and lively show for ages three to seven that’s essentially old-fashioned storytelling, done with pace and care. There are no splashy spider costumes, but they’re not necessary – the young audience get that each woman is a different facet of Anansi.

And if it’s mostly about the power of their words, then engaging music and lighting switches up the mood when small attention spans threaten to wander. There’s also some sublime physicality, be that Anansi teetering precariously up the enormous tree set, or the confetti ‘wisdom’, scattered into an excited crowd.

Details

Address
Unicorn Theatre
147
Tooley St
London
SE1 2HZ
Transport:
Tube: London Bridge
Price:
£16.50, £14.50 concs. Runs 50min

Dates and times

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