Reviewer: Elise Gallagher
Upstaged Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The House with Chicken Legs marks a triumphant post-Covid return for HOME.
Based on the best-selling novel by Sophie Anderson, we find 12-year-old Marinka (Eve De Leon Allen) who lives with their Grandmother Baba (Lisa Howard) and trained Jackdaw Jack (David Fallon) in a house which has chicken legs.
Baba guides spirits from one world to the next, which means the house needs to up sticks and move – without warning – to keep the living from discovering them. Unfortunately for Marinka, this means she’s never around long enough to make friends.
The piece brims with fun whilst also expertly navigating the intricacies of grief and growing up…
Adapted by Oliver Lansley and brought to life by award-winning theatre company Les Enfants Terribles, we enter a quirky world of music, kvass, death and joy. Directed by Lansley & James Seager, the piece brims with fun whilst also expertly navigating the intricacies of grief and growing up – without feeling twee or forced.
With a rotating cast made up of six performers, we explore the lands of the living, the dead and the bit between the two. Here, Marinka befriends Ben (David Fallon) and Nina (Keshini Misha) and battles against her destiny.
On top of an incredibly dynamic set (Jasmine Swan), head-shaking live musical numbers (Alexander Wolfe & Oliver Lansley) and master puppetry (Samuel Wyer), The House with Chicken Legs is a golden example of how a cast can support and shine a light on one another. Not just gifted in performance, many of the performers picked up an array of different instruments to play them exceptionally.
Although all shone brightly, Matthew Burns immediately captured the audience’s attention with his ingenious Jackdaw puppetry and vocalising, striking the right balance between comedy and tenderness in his performance.
The House with Chicken Legs is an excellent addition to any family Easter celebrations.
Musical numbers could be slightly trimmed as the 2 hours and 55-minute running time might be a lot for younger audience members. But nevertheless, The House with Chicken Legs is an excellent addition to any family Easter celebrations.
-Elise Gallagher
Catch the House with Chicken Legs at HOME until Saturday 23 April 2022.