REVIEWS- Children’s Theatre

REVIEW – Maggie and the Song of the Sea (The Lowry)

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Maggie-and-the-Song-of-the-Sea
Upstaged Rating: 

THINGSTARS: 

Playing as part of the Roundabout Season at The Lowry, Colour The Clouds Theatre Company are back with their new production Maggie and the Song of The Sea. Recommended for those aged seven and over, Maggie and the Song of the Sea explores bereavement through the eyes of a child. Colour The Clouds Theatre have been able to develop this important and universal piece of theatre with the full support of Winston’s Wish, The Charity for Bereaved Children.

Maggie (Josie Cerise) is a young girl whose world is coloured by a beautiful playground of music. Every feeling, person or object in her life has a sound – whether it is the rough sound of the scraping of a woodblock as she brushes her hair or the calming strings melody that she associates with her beloved Grandad (Scott T Berry).

Maggie’s best friend is her grandad who looks after her while her Mum (Samantha Vaughan) is at work, together Maggie and her grandad have amazing seaside adventures and take fantastic imaginative journeys to a special place called Shingle Bay.

When Maggie’s grandad dies suddenly and the adventures that they shared together come to an end, the musical backdrop disappears from Maggie’s life as she deals with the loss she feels and tries to adapt to a different world. The idea is that the young audience follow Maggie’s journey through grief and acceptance and then onwards to understanding and hope, as Maggie breaks through her wall of silence and finds her music again.

Under Alyx Tole’s direction, Maggie and the Song of the Sea offers young children the opportunity to learn about death in a safe and calm environment. Maggie’s story is told with vibrant, colourful puppetry and live music which assists the fantastic storytelling, giving a portrayal of grief that children are able to engage with.

Fully complemented by the ambiance of the Paines Plough Roundabout, Catherine Manford’s charming and playful musical composition and Mark Fox’s sensitive but atmospheric lighting design provide a perfect multisensory environment to tackle this difficult subject. Writer Sarah Birch has penned this story with a truth and honesty which is truly beautiful, offering a realistic insight of a child’s journey through grief.

-Kristy Stott

Maggie and the Song of the Sea visits the performance space at Oldham Library on the 10th October 2015. For information on times and tickets please click here or call the box office at the Oldham Coliseum on 0161 624 2829.

For more information on Winston’s Wish and the work that they do – please visit www.winstonswish.org.uk

REVIEW – Aliens Love Underpants Live (The Lowry)

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© sjsphoto
© sjsphoto
Date: 2 july 2015

THINGSTARS: 

This best-selling children’s book Aliens Love Underpants, written by Claire Freedman and Ben Cort, is pretty much staple bedtime reading in our house. Now the hilarious family favourite, presented by Big Wooden Horse and Nick Brooke Limited, has been adapted for the stage by Adam Bampton-Smith.

Apparently, aliens love underpants of every size, shape and colour but they can’t get their extraterrestrial fingers on any underpants in space so they have to obtain them by other means…

Most children find absolutely anything to do with underpants funny so the show is an immediate hit with Thing 2 (5 years old) and when he is asked by a member of the cast about his favourite pants – he promptly and proudly replies, “Dinosaur pants!”. This introduction acts as a frame story for the original tale and engages many of the children in the audience. The cast inform us that the original show has been cancelled (boo) but to avoid disappointment they will make up their own show (yay).

The talented cast of four, Mark Collier, Abigail Carter-Simpson, Eve Pearson-Wright and Alex James Ellison, take us through the well-loved tale which features original music, a highlight being the country and western line dancing pant shop owner. The audience is also treated to some real footage of Neil Armstrong on the moon, alien puppetry by Isla Shaw and lighting effects by Will Evans.

© sjsphoto
© sjsphoto

When our underpant hero Timmy (Alex James Ellison) comes around to solving the ancient riddle of the washing symbols, I did see that some children became quite restless – though, I have no doubt that many of the parents, including myself, saw it as an education. However, there was plenty of martian mischief and humorous interaction between the cast and the audience which kept most of the children gripped for the duration.

With a running time of 55 minutes and no interval, Aliens Love Underpants is a ‘laugh your pants off’ treat for those families with children aged from 3-8 years old.

-Kristy Stott

Aliens Love Underpants is at The Lowry, Salford until 5th July 2015. It continues its tour at Theatre Royal, Wakefield on the 7th and 8th July 2015. For more tour dates and venues click here.

Flicker and the Flying Books soars at the Manchester Children’s Book Festival

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Flicker and the Flying Books

THingstars: 

Although younger audiences are often the harshest critics, enjoyable and engaging children’s theatre does not need lavish sets, costumes or gimmicks. Flicker and the Flying Books, a new production presented by the Royal Exchange, with props made out of paper, had all of the young, curious theatre-goers joining in with the performers, following simple movements, laughing and clapping. All going to prove that interaction, music and familiarity are key when trying to put on a show for 3 – 8 year olds.

Flicker and the Flying Books is being presented by the Royal Exchange Theatre Young Company, a scheme for young people aged 14-21, together with the Elders’ Company, a practical drama and theatre making project for anyone over 60. This wonderfully imaginative theatrical caper is also produced in partnership with Manchester Children’s Book Festival, which runs until the 5th July 2015.

Everybody is very busy and Benji (Jake Mainwaring) is bored and the last thing that he wants to do is read a book, “ A book? Boring! Books are boring!”…That is until the marvellous Flicker (Judith Wood) starts throwing books from the shelves and  flicking through pages revealing a magical world that Benji never knew existed.

Directed by Andrew Barry, Flicker and the Flying Books has been developed by the whole company together with Matt Hassall and Josie Hepplewhite and features original music by talented Young Company member Abigayle Bartley. The soundscape is enriched by the companies voices, notably Matt Boylan, who collaboratively manage to create a bustling environment, an underwater paradise and a prehistoric dinosaur plain.

The simple but effective set design by Meriel Pym sees the ensemble make a dinosaur, Rapunzel’s golden hair and the Little Mermaid purely out of paper – it is all that the young audience need to trigger their vivid imaginations.

Flicker and the Flying Books is a refreshing, lively and positive new piece of theatre for a young audience; it is wonderful to see the Elders’ Company and the Young Company working together, listening and sharing each others ideas. Running at around 30 minutes, I would recommend Flicker and the Flying Books suitable for ages 3-6 years old. The production is completely free to watch but you must book in advance by calling the Royal Exchange box office on 0161 833 9833.

Flicker and the Flying Books is being performed on 4th July 2015 at 11:00am and 2:30pm at Manchester Central Library. Tickets are FREE but you must book in advance. Please call 0161 833 9833.      

Flicker and the Flying Books is also showing at New Vic Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent on 11th July 2015.

REVIEW – Swanhunter (The Lowry)

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Adrian Dwyer as Lemminkäinen with ‘The Devil’s Horse’ © Richard Davenport
Adrian Dwyer as Lemminkäinen with ‘The Devil’s Horse’
© Richard Davenport


Date: 25 APRIL 2015
Upstaged Rating: 

THINGSTARS: 

Opera North are passionate about making opera that appeals to the whole family, for children to understand and enjoy just as much as the adults. In this production, Opera North have collaborated with The Wrong Crowd Theatre Company to bring the story of Swanhunter to life. Under the direction of Hannah Mulder, the story is masterfully told by the cast of six, in a simple but highly effective way. The tale is full to the brim with mystical beasts, spooky landscapes and other-worldly characters which heightens its appeal to older children, over the age of 7.

Four backpackers sit around a warm fire as they begin tell the story of the Swanhunter, this campfire tale eagerly becomes a re-enactment of the story of Lemminkainen’s quest to the North to find a wife. This frame story can’t claim to be the most original or inventive but, it is charming and a familiar setting for most of the audience.

During Lemminkainen’s (Adrian Dwyer) quest to find a wife he uses his voice to sing his way out of any trouble – overcoming growling dogs, the Devil’s Elk and the Devil’s Horse – however, will the final task of shooting the Swan (Suzanne Shakespear) that lives on Death’s river prove too much for him?

Ann Taylor as Mother ©Richard Davenport
Ann Taylor as Mother
©Richard Davenport

Luckily, he has cast a spell on a knife and stabbed it into his mother’s door – this knife will let his mother know if he gets into trouble. As with all children’s opera, we need a happy ending and so it is Lemminkainen’s mother, sung emotively by Ann Taylor, who comes to his rescue. Adrian Dwyer is strong and animated in the role of Lemminkainen, although maybe a little too mature for the role of the young man in search of a bride.

Rachael Canning’s clever puppetry and design uses the camper’s circle of tents to bring the narrative into full realisation. All framed by a simple backdrop of mountains, a tent becomes a body for the Devil’s Elk and two rucksacks become the bodies of two fraught snarling dogs.

Jonathan Dove’s music is beautiful, conducted by Justin Doyle, it moves through from the frightening low tones of death to the high piercing notes of the swan’s aria sung beautifully by Suzanne Shakespeare.

Running at around 70 minutes, Swanhunter is a fantastic opportunity for the whole family to experience opera together.

photo

“ I liked all of the puppets, especially the scary ones and the music was really creepy at the start which made me feel excited. I couldn’t believe how high the lady sang as she moved the swan around beautifully on the stage. I found the story really easy to follow because the cast always sang what was happening a few times so that I could understand.”

Thing 1 (age 9)

-Kristy Stott

Swanhunter continues its run at The Alnwick Playhouse on the 26th and 27th April before calling in at The Queen’s Hall, Hexham on the 29th and 30th April 2015. For more details on the tour please click here.

REVIEW – Room on the Broom (The Lowry)

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© Helen Warner
© Helen Warner
Date: 8 april 2015
Upstaged Rating: 

THINGSTARS: 

Tall Stories Theatre Company are well versed in adapting well-loved children’s stories for the stage. Using their trademark physical theatre style, catchy signature tunes and puppetry – they succeed in appealing to the adults in the audience just as much as they do the children.

And Tall Stories usually present the well-known childhood story with a frame story which serves to entertain the children as they enter the theatre. There is no waiting around for the action to start because as the audience file in to take their seats, the actors are all on stage improvising a camping trip to the woods. What is really clever is that the actors tap into older relatives experiences of a family camping trip too, particularly us parents who might find that we need to have “a ploughmans, a tiramisu and then…a shot!”

The camping trip setting leads through to a Blair Witch-esque sighting of something flying in the sky which leads neatly to the narrative that we have all been eagerly waiting for, Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s, Room on the Broom.

Yvette Clutterbuck’s Witch is as scatty as is hinted at in Donaldson’s original story, a good likeable witch who struggles to cast a spell. Luckily, she has a super competent cat with plenty of ideas, a marvellous singing voice and  an endless supply of sweets, played by Emma MacLennan.

As the witch and her cat fly along on their broom stick, they end up making friends with three other animals, who help her retrieve her belongings when they fall to the ground. The puppets, designed by Yvonne Stone, are well characterised by David Garrud, who plays the dog and the frog and Daniel Foxsmith as the green bird. The American country and western singing frog is a particular hit with the young audience, as is the dog, especially when the two puppets swap accents during an exchange. I’m not sure that this was intentional but it was a great source of humour for many in the audience.

Tall Stories Theatre Company, headed up by Artistic Directors Olivia Jacobs and Toby Mitchell,  never fail to delight with their interpretations of Julia Donaldson’s well-loved tales. Although admittedly, Room on the Broom wasn’t my favourite Tall Stories production, they have certainly succeeded in producing superb children’s theatre consistently and they absolutely had the young audience at The Lowry under their spell for the full 55 minutes.

-Kristy Stott

Room on the Broom is at The Lowry, Salford until Sunday 12th April 2015. It then continues the tour at The Lyceum Theatre in Crewe for 14th and 15th April. Room on the Broom continues to tour nationally until 29th August 2015. For further UK tour dates click here.

REVIEW – I Believe in Unicorns (The Lowry)

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image
Date: 19 February 2015
Upstaged Rating: 
Thingstars: 

I Believe in Unicorns is a captivating and expressive story penned by one of our greatest storytellers, Children’s Laureate and writer of War Horse, Michael Morpurgo. In this adaptation for the stage, Theatre Alibi unpack the experiences of Tomas and his family in an inventive and visually stunning way. Using live music, puppetry and powerful physical theatre sequences, the moving story is brought to life completely for the audience. I even had a tear in my eye by the end and Thing 1 (9 years old) whispered in my ear, “I feel very sad for them.”

“The Little Match Girl puppet made me feel sad. Some people in the world are poor and some people are rich”

Tomas didn’t like books or stories. He was happier clambering in the mountains like a goat or tobogganing with his Dad. One afternoon, Tomas’ mum suggests going to the library. Tomas is reluctant until he arrives at the library and meets the Unicorn Lady who has a wonderful talent for storytelling, opening the pages and setting the magic free. Tomas’ world becomes so much bigger as he reveals the wonder of stories, the importance of books and the power of his imagination.

“He pulled funny faces, like me, when his mum was taking him to the library.”

There isn’t a weak link in the cast of three, Ben Worth‘s Tomas is animated and well paced, he leads us fluidly from the fun of physical theatre through to scenes loaded with emotion. Derek Flood and Cerianne Roberts are skilled in playing several different characters with ease; a change of voice and posture and a new prop is all that the younger members of the audience need to understand this. The atmospheric lighting design by Dominic Jeffery and live music by Thomas Johnson really help to pace the whole show, aiding the depth and meaning of the story.

I Believe in Unicorns is billed as being suitable for ages six and over, although I would take this with caution. The backdrop to the immediate domestic action is war torn Europe. To Tomas, the war always seems so far away until one day it reaches his village and he experiences first hand the devastation and sadness of war. It is possible that a younger child may well struggle with understanding some of the context here, given that the story is extremely well-crafted with plenty of different strands explored during its running time of sixty minutes.

However, for those older children, over the age of 8, who are able to follow the narrative and appreciate the emotion of the production, I Believe in Unicorns is a rare treat for an age group who are so often overlooked in quality children’s theatre.

“It made me feel like I was lucky.”

Thing 1 went straight home and dug out my old weather beaten copy of The Little Match Girl and began to read.

I Believe in Unicorns is at The Lowry until Sunday 22nd February and then tours nationally through Spring and Summer 2015.

-Kristy Stott

Dinosaur Zoo ( The Lowry, Salford)

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date: 4 october 2013
Upstaged rating: 
Dinosaur Zoo The Lowry
Dinosaur Zoo
The Lowry

Dinosaur Zoo is an interactive and educational show, suitable for all ages, by Australian company Erth. The show aims to animate the lesser known (but equally ferocious) dinosaurs that ruled in part of the Southern hemisphere which, we are informed, is referred to as Gordwanaland.

The young audience are encouraged to interact with narrator Australian zookeeper, Lindsey Chaplin, and her dinosaur puppets from the very start, especially, those sat in ‘The Danger Zone’ at the very front!

The show maintains a remarkable sense of surprise throughout – the lifelike dinosaur puppets move convincingly, easily fuelling a child’s curiosity, nervousness and amusement in equal measures. Lindsey is our host – her address to the audience is perfectly timed, her humour and friendly approach appealing to children and adults alike.

I attended with my dinosaur-obsessed 3 year old; who despite chattering all week about the show, lost his tongue when he entered the theatre, all wide eyed on seeing the stage set with hay bales and giant flora.

I could sense that many of the children were excited and apprehensive – not knowing what to expect. And although Lindsey explained that all of the dinosaurs in the show were puppets (and you could clearly see that they were being manned) – I think that many children forgot this fact early on, which added to the magic of the show.

Dinosaur Zoo, with interaction and science at its core, is very different from any of the other dinosaur shows that I have seen, and at just 55 minutes long it is perfect for the attention span of even very young children.

My only niggle lies with the staging of the show; due to the interactive element it would definitely have benefitted from being staged in the round or in a more intimate performance space. And from watching the trailer, this is what I was expecting.

However, Erth must have recognised this as being a potential issue and so overcame this by bringing all their dinosaurs out into the foyer after the performance, so that all of the children were able to get up close and personal with their favourite from the show.

If like me, you have a dinosaur obsessed child or one that you can borrow to accompany you, Dinosaur Zoo is well worth a visit!

-Kristy Stott

Originally published by What’s on Stage in October 2013.