Fringe favourites Theatre Fideri Fidera are back with a hilarious comic reimagining of the tale of Wilhelm Tell. Will Tell and the Big Bad Baron introduces a new legendary figure to British drama: the great Swiss freedom fighter Wilhelm Tell who fought against the rule of the Austrian Hungarian empire and famously shot an apple off his child’s head with his crossbow.
Don’t miss this mad-cap comic adventure which promises capers around a castle, medieval dancing, a damsel in distress, a ‘Punch and Judy’ show on the battlements, disguise, gender role reversal and a joust to the death with life-size kinetic puppets – all joined together with six amazing original songs.
Inspired by the stories of Sir Lancelot and Robin Hood, feisty heroine Wilhelmina disguises herself as a knight and, with pots and pans for armour and her donkey Rosina for a steed, rides off to rescue her father from the wicked Baron’s deepest darkest dungeon. Wilhelmina knows all about standing up to tyrants and fighting for freedom but nothing has quite prepared her for when the Baron’s daughter Edeltraut falls madly in love with her and asks to be rescued too.
Theatre Fideri Fidera have collaborated with Ketch, one half of international acclaimed Japanese mime artists Gamarjobat, who will be working with the company ahead of the play’s Edinburgh premiere. Gamarjobat first made their name on the Fringe and went on make TV appearances and tour around the world.
Writer Colin Granger comments, I have always wanted to write a play about the Swiss folk hero Wilhelm Tell. We all know the story about the apple but Wilhelm Tell doesn’t feature in British drama. So at the time of Brexit and the US presidential elections when democracy and liberty seemed so much under threat, I felt now is the time to write Will Tell and the Big Bad Baron. And the Baron? Well, he’s a bit like Donald but his first name is Boris.
The production features Theatre Fideri Fidera’s rich mix of storytelling, comedy, physical theatre, music and song, combined with commedia del-arte style slapstick, buffoonery, heroes fighting against tyranny and injustice and satirical digs at contemporary political figures.
