THEATRE
By Shake & Stir Theatre Co
Adapted by Nelle Lee and Daniel Evans from Grimm Fairy Tales
Arts Centre Melbourne, Fairfax Studio until 12 Sept 2026
Reviewer: Kate Herbert
Stars: *** (3)
This review is published only on this blog. I’ll present a radio review on Arts Weekly on 3MBS on Sat 5 Sept 2026. KH
Happily ever after? Not a snowflake’s hope in hell. Shake & Stir’s production, GRIMM, hauls Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rumpelstiltskin, the Beast and other familiar fairy-tale characters kicking and screaming out of the sanitised Disney cupboard and dumps them into a dark, spooky and dangerous forest where the stories are considerably nastier.
Adapted by Nelle Lee and Daniel Evans from the gruesome Brothers Grimm tales, this is an adult fairy-tale mash-up, liberally seasoned with sex, violence, gore, expletives and a generous splash of theatrical mischief. The four performers career through multiple, mad storylines and characters. = Evans directs with energy, imagination, wry wit and naughtiness, keeping the action moving at a hectic pace.
Aljin Abella, Helen Cassidy, Nelle Lee and Henry Rollo are an impressively versatile quartet. Abella has fun as an outrageous Rumpelstiltskin, while Cassidy hurls herself into the grotesque Witch, and Lee’s bawdy Little Red Riding Hood is a feisty re-imagining of the character.
Rollo is wickedly camp as the Wolf and plays a genuinely villainous, violent and frightening Robber Bridegroom, a character never seen in Disney. He also plays live piano and delights the audience with his zesty cabaret tunes.
The most sympathetic character was the adorable fawn puppet that elicited quiet cooing and laughs from the audience, followed by gasps of horror at the fawn’s near-death experience.
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| Grimm-Aljin Abella, Nelle Lee - image Parethesy |
There is plenty to enjoy here, but GRIMM sometimes feel cluttered. The interwoven narratives become increasingly convoluted, with familiar tales dissected, reassembled and cross-pollinated until the story loses focus and becomes confusing. The production veers between genuinely dark material, broad pantomime and cabaret-style comedy, although the stylistic shifts are not always successful.
At its best, GRIMM reminds us that the original Grimm’s fairy tales were never saccharine. The final scene – a sort of remix – tries a little too hard to deliver the “moral of this story”: that little girls are still not safe walking dark paths at night. It’s true, but this was a just a bit too preachy.
GRIMM is an energetic, visually extravagant and entertaining romp through the dark forest where things do not always live happily ever after.
Cast
Aljin Abella
Helen Cassidy
Nelle Lee
Henry Rollo
Creative Team
Adapted by – Nelle Lee and Daniel Evans from Grimm Fairy Tales
Daniel Evans – Director
Josh McIntosh – Set Design
Trent Suidgeest – Lighting Design
Paul McCann – Costume Design
Dan Venz – Choreographer
NJ Price – Fight Direction
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