by Ed Fortune
Fairy tales, told in messed up ways, is a mainstay of the fantasy genre. Thorns is a retelling of the story of Sleeping Beauty that draws deeply from a much older version of the story. Rather than Disney’s modern sanitised tale, Thorns takes inspiration from Giambattista Basile’s story Sun, Moon and Talia, which is a pretty deep cut.
The show is essentially three women sitting on a stage, relating the story from their perspective. We have three characters; The Queen, Talia (aka Sleeping Beauty) and Moon. We begin the tale with Talia being blessed by various spirits and then cursed by one who felt slighted. Rather than a spinning wheel, it’s a piece of flax, which makes a lot more sense when you think about it.
The character of Moon begins the story as one of the magical beings that tries to stop Talia’s curse from being too bad and then, during the story, transitions into something else. Moon’s telling of the story is perhaps the most whimsical, but then they are a magical being.
Talia, however, is a lot more blunt. Our sleeping beauty is cursed to sleep, and in this version of the story, it’s not a kiss that wakes her up. And it’s no prince charming who is (indirectly) responsible. Instead, it’s an already-married king. This brings us to the third character in this play; the Queen. A woman wronged, filled with vengeance and a streak of malice.
Despite the age of the story, this production puts a strong modern and feminist spin on this pitch-dark fairy tale. Basile’s version is an interesting choice for adaptation, and with the addition of a modern perspective and a sprinkling of modern fairy tale magic, we get something a lot more intelligent and engaging.
The show is simply staged, though the fact that it’s on the Three Sisters Live stage means that the entire show has the words ‘Three Sisters Live’, which seems strangely appropriate. The three performers work well together, but the format robs the story of some of its impact. Clever, feminist, modern and memorable, Thorns is a must-see for those interested in old stories told in new ways and is well worth seeking out.
Thorns is on until August 27th, 2023. You can pick up tickets for the Edinburgh Fringe show here and learn more about the Chaos Collective here.
