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list.co.uk/festival Reviews | FESTIVAL KIDS
MRS MCMOON’S TEA PARTY Homely one-woman physical comedy ●●●●●
VAGABOND Colourful classic clowns in need of energy ●●●●● THE PIPER Participatory modern take on the folk tale ●●●●●
If you can get your head around the slightly ropey accent, you’ll find that Mrs McMoon is a homely Scottish granny who invites us into her kitchen while she makes some lovely biscuits . . . makes them and makes them, for something keeps going wrong. She’s played by Katie Cooper, an exuberant young comedy actor who has a particular way with kids and an even better one with an ad-lib when they shout out something odd. She potters and fusses, then nips out for a second while someone inevitably comes in and scoffs the lot (bearded Gilbert and his cheeky chipmunk, her snooty sister Jill, her huffy granddaughter Rosy).
Each of these characters is played with a quick and inventive costume change by Cooper, and the sense of believability of each ‘new’ face popping through the window in the impressive homemade set seems to keep the audience (especially those around the older pre-school age) enthralled. Our host’s storytelling is clear and filled with physical action that carries us along nicely with a bit of cute hand puppetry and a hilarious tableau where she crams every biscuit on the plate into her mouth. (David Pollock) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 23 Aug, 12.15pm, £8–£8.50 (£7–£7.50).
Some things are best left to tradition. It seems company Triciclo Rojo from Mexico stood by this maxim when creating Vagabond. Their clowns are classic: red-nosed, white-faced, pink-cheeked, all stripy tights and mismatching colours, getting themselves into scrapes when tasked with the simplest of things.
The three Vagabonds of the title squabble and fight to protect a precious luminous dandelion head found in a dustbin. Through storms and sea voyages they travel, sometimes cooperating with each other, sometimes at loggerheads.
There are some magical moments and sweet jokes, such as fighting a duel with a ladle. But a clown show is the only kind of movement piece where the choreography can feel too precise, and here the slapstick feels so cautious that there is never really a sense of calamity. Not that we would want to see someone hurt, but when clowns collide you do want a bit of crash-bang-wobble.
Still, the palette of colours, the graphics, the simple set and the costumes are so lovely that this could be an engaging show for introducing very wee ones to the theatre. (Lucy Ribchester) ■ New Town Theatre, 220 0143, until 30 Aug, 11am, £12 (£9).
If your child isn’t content to sit in the audience and would rather be on stage taking part, The Piper’s got you covered. People with ‘onstage’ tickets (see underbellyedinburgh.co.uk/thepiper for details) get to participate in the show, with a set of wireless headphones that tell them what to do.
It’s a lovely idea that’s well-executed in this adaptation of folk tale The Pied Piper of Hamelin from Australian theatre company My Darling Patricia. In the show, Hamelin starts out as a beautiful forest that’s cut down to make way for a bustling city. Over time, Hamelin city develops a garbage problem, and the rats come flooding in.
You’ll know what comes next; but seeing these children and their parents in the roles for the day gives the legend a freshness. Yet, despite an energetic start and some lovely visuals, The Piper gets a bit slow in the middle and doesn’t quite pick up the pace again until the end (when the usually morose tale concludes on a surprisingly joyous and colourful note). Still, its best moments are a lot of fun, and it’s a great chance to participate in a Fringe show if you can snap up some onstage tickets. (Yasmin Sulaiman) ■ Underbelly Potterow, 0844 545 8252, until 31 Aug (not 24), 10.30am, £12–£14 (£8–£10).
THE MARVELLOUS IMAGINARY MENAGERIE Sideshow capers deliver another hit for Les Enfants Terribles ●●●●●
A trip to the zoo is all very well, but you’re unlikely to find anything there you haven’t seen before. Far better to pay a visit to Dr Longitude’s ‘Marvellous Imaginary Menagerie’, where you’ll encounter all manner of strange creatures – and that’s just the humans working there.
Known for its highly physical approach to storytelling, Les
Enfants Terribles (an English theatre company, despite its name) has dreamt up a vaudevillian circus sideshow bursting with lesser-known curiosities from the animal kingdom. But before we meet them, the dynamic team of five talented
performers takes us on a journey, back in time to before Dr Longitude was born. There, we meet his father (played by a member of the audience, so watch out dads) who starts the menagerie his son will one day inherit. Watching Dr Longitude Jr and his assistants populate his
menagerie is great fun. Off they journey, into the wilderness to bring back a Long-snouted Chuffalump, Bumble Wasp, Whistling Pank and the hard to locate Decapus among others. Each creature comes with its own adventure, with a range of bizarre props used to tell the tale of its capture.
The set, costumes and heavy make-up all conjure up the atmosphere of a Victorian travelling show, and as we become absorbed in this ridiculous but hugely enjoyable story, it’s as if we’ve entered a different era.
At first, the action, dialogue and song is so quick-fire (and often
in rhyme) it’s tricky to keep up. But before long, you’ve entered their colourful world of crazy hats and animal masks, and can’t wait for the next adventure the charming, but slightly inept, doctor will take us on. (Kelly Apter) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 31 Aug, 11am, £9.50–£13 (£8–£12.50).
20–31 Aug 2015 THE LIST FESTIVAL 63
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