Anansi the Spider playing at the Unicorn Theatre

At the Unicorn Theatre, just minutes from London Bridge, under an illuminated tree canopy designed by Sadeysa Greenaway-Bailey (interviewed for these pages last week as co-course leader of the new Genesis Design Programme), a handful of tales about the West African and Caribbean folk hero Anansi the Spider are currently being spun.

Set at a time when animals spoke and walked on two legs, alongside their human counterparts, the cast of three storytellers take it in turns to lead in the telling of a tale of mischief and morals.

In the three tales adapted by Unicorn artistic director Justin Audibert (now in his final season before moving to Chichester Festival Theatre) Anansi tries to gather all the world’s wisdom only to lose it, lures a series of animals to a swift end rather than growing food for himself, and tries to attend two parties at once to satisfy his greed – you can imagine the outcome.

Like so many cultural mythologies, the Anansi myth is male dominated, so it is refreshing to see these tales played out by three female performers – Leona Allen, Siobhan Cha Cha and Tanika Yearwood.

All three show real talent in engaging with the audience, weaving in moments of audience participation which the children loved. Being able to hand out physical pieces of wisdom to the audience, and then persuade them to hand it back, is no mean feat.

Many cultures have an Anansi figure in their mythology – like the Coyote in Navajo tales, the Crow in Aboriginal folklore or Loki in Norse mythology, Anansi is a trickster.

This locates him in the grey area between hero and villain – clever enough to outsmart his more powerful rivals, but selfish and therefore often bringing about his own downfall.

I have rarely seen children’s theatre that is prepared to take such a nuanced approach to notions of right and wrong, but this production is not afraid to make Anansi seem likeable while simultaneously bringing about the destruction of other animals and pursuing his own self-centred agenda.

It is to the credit of the storytellers and the direction that the audience of primary school children in attendance when I saw the show were rapt throughout.

Website: https://www.unicorntheatre.com/events/anansi-the-spider

Picture: Anansi the Spider, Picture: Ali Wright