DREAMS COME
OUT TO PLAY
Teddy bear adventure on the high seas COO
Colourful cushions on the floor. music box music in the air and a giant teddy bear asleep on the stage. Dreams Come Out to Play welcomes us into the performance space in the gentlest way possible. But don't be deceived. this is a roller coaster pirate adventure filled with action and sound.
After a bedtime story from Daddy. young Harriet drifts off to sleep hugging her prized bear, Larry. All is calm until the aforementioned dreams come out in force. taking the little girl inside a picture frame and under the sea in search of her missing bear. During a fun moment of interaction. children grasp a large sheet in their hands. creating the ocean waves. It's aimed at the two-to-six-year-old market. but the scarier moments can be a little overwhelming for tinies. But the use of innovative shadow puppetry. audience engagement and. of course. a happy ending. ensures smiles all round. (Kelly Apter)
I C, 0870 7075705, until 29 Aug. 7 0am, £6.50 (24.50—95.50).
PROFESSOR BUMM’S STORY MACHINE Slapstick, storytelling and scatology hits the spot 0000
As the performers bound on stage to introduce themselves. the very monikers of Professor Ivor Bumm and Doctor Willy Whee herald an hour of high-octane scatological fun. The centrepiece of the deranged duo's production is that sprawling. multicoloured heap of junk. the ‘St0ry Machine'. But when Whee accidentally upends his coffee. the machine grinds to a halt in a tragi-comic fashion reminiscent of Hal from 2007. forcing the scientists to take over its functions. What follows is a string of Let's
Pretend-style improwsation games. With
multiple costume changes and props. poetry and songs and some incredibly silly sound effects chucked into the mix to illustrate the stories conjured up onstage. Admittedly. certain elements work better than others. but this is
generally an engaging piece of entertainment for kids of all ages — thanks in no small part to the energy
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Campbell's very silly production takes (Allan Radcliffe) place in the offices of the eponymous society. where Spiral Manley and his assistant Stella Pomegranate while away the hours constructing new words that $0und just like the thing they're describing. Schlarnk. Shioom- shroom. Miaow. All great fun. but utterly pointless. as the new marketing manager is only tOO eager to point out — to his ultimate cost.
The premise is ingenious. and gives; rise to an enjoyably daft afternoon's entertainment. While the piece might have worked better in the round (the action occasionally seems a bit far
(1‘5.50415.50).
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LAURA BLACK GOES FARMING All the fun of the farm
‘It’s Little Britain set on a farm, for kids,’ says Laura Black, summing up her Fringe show in one handy soundbite. Tapping into the zeitgeist of the average under-ten, Black and cohort Feri Tezcan have assembled seven snappy sketches guaranteed to tickle small funny bones. With a background in adult comedy and children’s drama, Black decided to fuse both worlds and create one of the first ever sketch shows for kids.
Unlike adults, young audiences demand one extra crucial element from their sketches. ‘Children need a narrative,’ explains Black. ‘With adults you can be completely random, but kids need a story to keep them
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BOUNCE! A MADCAP MUSICAL ADVENTURE Sing-a-long duo keeps kiddies
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going.‘ Enter a host of bizarre animal characters, including a Swedish au pair hen and royalist dog, who save their farm from corporate takeover. All of them are played by Black and Tezcan in a multitude of daft costumes.
Having road tested the show in London, and with segments on CBBC‘s Stitched Up, the duo soon found that while narrative has its place, you can‘t beat a good fart noise. ‘We crafted these wonderful gags for each sketch, and made sure we stuck to the script, when actually what children really want is to be made laugh,‘ says Black. ‘80 we went to the joke shop, stocked up on whoopee cushions and silly glasses, stuck them in all the sketches and they loved it!’ (Kelly Apter)
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THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 51