Those of you who read these reviews know that our complaints about the lack of imagination and freshness in Bay Area theater, at least among the established companies, go back quite a while. There are exceptions, however, which are always welcome, and The Wild Bride at Berkeley Rep is certainly one of those. It's a production conceived and performed by Britain's Kneehigh Theater Group — the same wily troupe who brought us Brief Encounter at A.C.T two years ago — and directed, as Brief Encounter was, by Emma Rice. Rice and her gang of nimble, musical, energetic performers take on a particularly dark (and arguably feminist) fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm called "The Girl Without Hands," and view it through a Southern Gothic lens, complete with banjo-and-bass bluegrass songs, and a lot of dancing.