Tales of Beatrix Potter
A menagerie of comically eccentric English creatures take the stage.
Frederick Ashton created this delightful ballet for a 1971 children’s film in which he danced Mrs Tiggy-Winkle. The music evokes a forgotten England: full of bygone folk tunes and Victorian and Edwardian melodies.
There is pathos, as Pigling Bland bids farewell to his mother, romance, when he dances a pas de deux with a pretty Berkshire Black (delightfully feminine despite her large snout), feats of athletic vigour from Mr Jeremy Fisher, the frog, and terror, as a foxy gentleman stalks a dim-witted Jemima Puddle Duck.
Things are kept from being too sugary by Ashton's gift for wit, parody and self-depreciation. The work is as much a celebration of English eccentricity, humour and ingenuity as it is a story for children.
The stories
The action is taken directly from several of Beatrix Potter’s stories
The Tale of Jemima Puddle Duck
Jemima is looking for somewhere to lay an egg. She is watched by the sly fox, who hopes to eat her for his supper. He persuades her to make a nest and lay an egg. He would like to add her to his cooking pot but Jemima escapes just in time.
The Tale of Jeremy Fisher
Mr Fisher, the frog, lives in a little damp house amongst the buttercups at the edge of a pond. He loves it when it rains, and sets off with his rod for a spot of fishing.
The Tale of Pigling Bland
Pigling Bland and his brother bid a tearful goodbye to their mother and head off to market. On the way, Pigling meets a beautiful black pig and saves her from the butcher’s knife.
Peter Rabbit
Peter is a mischievous and disobedient young rabbit. He cannot resist stealing lettuces from Mr McGregor’s garden even though his mother has forbidden him.
The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin
Squirrel Nutkin and his friends set out to gather nuts on an island owned by the Old Brown Owl. Nutkin is rude and Owl tries to skin him alive. He escapes by snapping off his own tail.
The Tale of Two Bad Mice
Hunca Munca and Tom Thumb sneak into a doll’s house and try to eat the artificial food. When they realise it is made of plaster, they smash it on the floor and wreck the house before escaping back to their mouse hole with some stolen furniture.
Characters
Mrs Tiggy Winkle: A hedgehog and a "strange little washerwoman".
Mrs Tittlemouse: "A most terribly tidy particular little mouse, always sweeping and dusting the soft sandy floors".
Johnny Townmouse: A sophisticated urban mouse, "born in a cupboard".
Pigling Bland: A brave pig who has come of age and sets off to market.
Pig Wig: A beautiful black pig who catches the eye of Pigling Bland.
Squirrel Nutkin: A little red squirrel who "lived in a wood at the edge of a lake".
Mr Jeremy Fisher: A frog who "liked getting his feet wet; nobody ever scolded him, and he never caught a cold!".
Jemima Puddle Duck: A lady duck, "who was annoyed because the farmer's wife would not let her hatch her own eggs".
The Foxy gentlemen: "an elegantly dressed gentleman reading a newspaper". Jemima thought him "mighty civil and handsome".
Two Bad Mice: Tom Thumb and his wife Hunca Munca live in a hole behind the skirting board. They wreak havoc in the doll’s house. But, "they were not so very, very naughty after all, because Tom Thumb paid for everything he broke".
Peter Rabbit: A mischievous and disobedient young rabbit.