Vinland review

Dean and Andrew Armfield play a large cast of characters between them, and while these aren’t always distinct, the performances are spirited. They also provide the show with an atmospheric soundtrack based around live looping, crunchy guitar licks and ominous slow drumbeats, punctuated with lilting wordless melodies and the occasional squawks and growls of native wildlife.

Animations by Christopher Harrisson, in a charmingly wobbly cartoon style well suited to the show’s tone, are starkly rendered in black, white and vivid crimson splashes of red hair or blood; they add some dynamic spectacle to an otherwise static staging. Battles are depicted with clashing animated weapons, while the story’s antagonist – a covetous forest spirit – makes appearances as an eerie, inky silhouette slipping through the forest shadows. The most satisfyingly magical moments come when the performers interact with the animations, seeming to pluck berries straight off an illustrated vine or take shelter from animated arrows whizzing overhead.

There’s little in the way of props or a set, but designer Molly Hawkins makes inventive use of a few simple items. With the addition of a cardboard dragon’s head, a stepladder becomes the prow of a longboat. And strips of white cloth are used as canvases for projections, becoming sails, flags, foamy waves or flurrying snow, as the characters battle through the many hazards they encounter.