By Tash McPhillips and Jordan S Daniel

Review by Hunter King

Once upon a time there was a sex robot, an internet creep, and a group of swans doing cocaine in a club bathroom. This may not be what you expect from a fairytale, but this is exactly what Jordan S Daniel and Tash McPhillips have brought to life in their new fairytale adaptation, Fairytales ‘26 presented by their brand new theatre company IDS Theatre. Daniel and McPhillips created this company with the intention of highlighting identities and how they are impacted by modern politics. 

The Traverse Theatre was an ideal hosting venue, keeping the performances close and relying solely on the storytelling over any other gimmick, which in the tradition of fairy tales worked quite well. The play consisted of three stories, each an adaptation of a classic.

The first scene was hard to pinpoint at first, with Cleo (Samuela Noumtchuet) a meek mannered and seemingly obedient partner, telling about her partner, and the influencer that she takes inspiration from online. Noumtchuet brilliantly plays all three of these roles, but at times Cleo started to feel monotonous, which I thought was concerning, until it was revealed that she is actually a sex robot who desperately wants to be a real girl. This twist was brilliantly designed in a way that made Noumtchuet’s performance feel incredible in hindsight and riveting for the rest of her time on the stage. It was around this point that I realized these are fully adaptations, and not Daniel and McPhillips attempting to write their own “new” fairytales, which works incredibly well as it allows the audience to see classic stories in a relatable and meaningful new light in 2026. Noumtchuet’s portrayal of a Pinocchio-like character designed with AI and run by billionaires felt prescient and dark, opting for a more difficult and realistic ending.

In the second scene Kieran Lee-Hamilton plays Mark, a repair man who immediately feels charming only to quickly showcase a very dark persona behind the facade of the friendly helping hand. Lee-Hamilton plays Mark with an immediate likeability that is questioned at first with some homophobic remarks and very quickly entirely diminished when he turns on his laptop and begins cyberstalking in influencer that he is obsessed with (the same one Cleo took inspiration from!) This scene was disturbing and brought about an intense darkness, which was highlighted with Becca Donley’s lighting having only the glow of the laptop screen illuminate Hamilton, allowing his shadow to transform him physically into the Big Bad Wolf. Lee-Hamilton perfectly toes the line between humor and terror, with a disturbing scene that I will not soon forget. 

The final scene sees Jaye (Amadine Jalon) in a club, after having left their hometown to explore their dreams (and finally being able to come out). There Jaye meets the Swans, a group of women who love women unapologetically and freely, and immediately gets into a relationship with the (significantly older) matriarch of the group. Unfortunately, as Jaye is coming to a realization of their own non-binary identity, they realize that the Swans are a group of Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists, who are actively discriminating against trans people and barring them from their club. Jalon does an excellent job of playing a character who feels entirely isolated and is stuck in a cycle of abuse, but also brings hopefulness for a brighter future for Jaye in the final moments of their scene.

Overall the show was a major achievement, especially as a piece of new writing and a premiere for IDS Theatre. There were a few moments where the dialogue was a bit on the nose, like when Cleo makes a remark, “pleasure island? It should be called man’s island.” Moments like these felt a bit obvious, but overall did not detract from the rest of the play, and do provide a level of context that could be important for audience members that are not as well versed in today’s social climate.

Daniel and McPhillips have a great piece of theatre here and have done so much with only one actor in each scene, a small stage, and a few props. It is clear their passion and artistry go hand in hand and this will surely push them up the ladder of success in this new adventure of theirs. Fairytales ‘26, although bleak, told exactly the type of stories that we need right now. Like a child in bed, I can only wait with eager anticipation to see what tales IDS comes up with next.

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