The Mermaid

The Mermaid (Havfruen) brings Hans Christian Andersen's classic dark fairytale to life in an atmospheric melding of physical theatre, contemporary dance and aerial artistry at the Queen Elizabeth Hall this Christmas.

The Mermaid is a collaboration between Danish theatre company Kaleidoskop and the Swedish Cirkus Cirkör, a 12-strong ensemble of international performers, including trapeze acrobats, dancers and actors.

Created in celebration of the bicentennial of Andersen's birth in 2005,The Mermaid pays homage to his beautiful, yet unsettling original text about a young mermaid's sacrifices for the love of a human. Audiences are transported from a mysterious deep sea of sinuous creatures both good and evil to the dry land of modern Copenhagen inhabited by lighthearted sailors and the tormented prince. The production, which recently played to sold-out houses in Stockholm and Copenhagen, was conceived by director Katrine Wiedeman and Cirkus Cirkör artistic director Tilde Björfors and is choreographed by Molly Saudek.