Constance and Sinestra @ C

You know a play is worth seeing when a young audience member announces in tears that she wants to leave before being gently escorted out by her mother.

Constance and Sinestra is a dark fairytale about two daughters of a taxidermist and their stuffed deceased mother. Constance is left burdened with the responsibility of taking care of her odd-scream-collecting sister and her hermit father.

A curious love triangle forms as Constance falls for the “shaggy stoat” Hereford, who becomes instantly obsessed with Sinestra. However Sinestra has formed a masochistic crush on Mr. Vanderscab who doesn't scream when he sees her. Musical intuitions are screaming with the introduction of Mr Vanderscab, who claims “there is nothing strange about me dear” in a relatively unconvincing fashion. Soon the girls find themselves in an eye-popping nightmare.

A bit of an emotional roller coaster at times, this musical could have been written by a manic-depressive Hans Christian Anderson. Although you might be forgiven for confusing some of the music with Bohemian Rapsody, there is an important message to learn from this play: “Husbands are more important than cakes.”