Rachel Rose Reid: I'm Hans Christian Andersen

Rachel Rose Reid is a compelling teller of stories. She has a warm, engaging voice, a voice that draws the audience in, and an open, inviting style of performance.

Her latest solo show sees her drawing on the work and life of Hans Christian Andersen, another spinner of stories. She weaves the details of his life in among retellings of his tales, contrasting them with her own experiences of love, with its absence of pastel-pink castles and Disney-worthy princes. With each disappointment, another page is torn from her notebook, another fairy tale curtailed.

The show has something of a collage quality, the various elements knitting nicely together. An air of the bittersweet permeates and old stories sound fresh in her mouth. Her delivery is polished, with not a word out of place.

Reid has a lovely singing voice and while her inclusion of two songs could be termed indulgent, they turn out to be highlights, especially her beautiful closing rendition of Joni Mitchell’s A Case of You. In fact it would have been interesting to see her push the cabaret element of the show a little further, to add a little more texture to what is an intriguing and graceful but low-key performance.