Review: Accidently Ugly (St Martins Youth Arts Centre)

Photo: Pia Johnson

What do you fear? 

Spiders? Witches? The Boogey Man? 

How closely are your fears associated with appearances? A warty nose, a hunched back, a gappy smile, eight hairy legs and way too many eyes?

Using Oscar Wilde’s tale, The Selfish Giant as its centrepiece, Accidently Ugly pursues the connections we make between what we find ugly and therefore fear. Perhaps looking closely at a creature we find to be ugly will reveal intricate detail, just as looking beyond a person’s appearance reveals deeper truths.

With a cast aged between 5 and 12 years, some hearing impaired and profoundly deaf, images of spooky trees, kids with torches in their tents, night sounds, and ghostly stories are brought to mind. Continue reading

More previews, reviews and features