list.co.uk/festival HAIRY MACLARY AND FRIENDS Musical doggy mayhem
busy: from chamber pot humour (woe betide the audience member who doesn’t heed the call of ‘gardyloo!’) to gruesome masks and a fair scattering of stick-on boils. (Laura Ennor) ■ Alba Flamenca, 226 0000, 9–29 Aug (not 14–16, 21), 11am, £6 (£5). WEE WILLIE GRAY Musical storytelling at its best
With their cast of colourful canines, Lynley Dodd’s Hairy Maclary books have garnered many fans the world over. Having secured the rights to perform them, Nonsenseroom Productions have been hard at work bringing the eponymous scruffy mutt and his friends to life. ‘We were attracted by the mischief
that the characters get up to and their individual personalities,’ says artistic director Bruce Strachan. ‘Children really engage with the dogs and we hope we can bring that fun from the page onto the stage.’ Of Dodd’s original 19 books, the company has selected five for the show, including Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy and Hairy Maclary and Zachary Quack. ‘We stick quite faithfully to the books,’ says Strachan, ‘and all the characters except Zachary Quack are played by actors. We have some fantastic costumes, which really make the dogs larger than life!’ (Kelly Apter) ■ Assembly Rooms, 623 3030, 7–29 Aug, 10.40am, £9 (£7). Previews 5 & 6 Aug, 10.40am, £5.
BOBBY & THE GRAVEROBBERS Scottish history panto-style
It’s a little known fact that Greyfriars Bobby was not a cute wee Scottie with ‘a Morningside accent and a tartan tammy who ran a couple of Edinburgh marathons and was always carrying old people’s bags’, Bob Skeldon tells us. Oh no, he was a much more scabby dug, with a set of false teeth nicked from a granny and a sideline in helping out Auld Reekie’s most murderous pair, Burke and Hare.
At least that’s the truth Gaither Roond Stories are touting this month in a Scots panto that manages to pack in a ceilidh, a somewhat anachronistic outbreak of plague, a bit of black market trading, and a body count to rival Taggart into its 50 minutes. The light-hearted send-up of the tartan tat experience promises plenty to keep young eyes and ears
Festival Kids
playfulness,’ says Cannon. ‘He’s the archetypal favourite uncle, daft one minute then making you look at the bigger picture.’ Barely a few lines long, Wee Willie Gray is Burns’ only nursery rhyme, but has given the duo plenty of scope. Aimed at ages 4–6, the show is effectively a tale within a tale.
‘Our starting point is that Willie is literally found inside an old book that no one has read for a very long time,’ explains Cannon. ‘There then follows Wee Willie Gray’s adventure as he encounters, among others, mermaids and faeries!’ (Kelly Apter) ■ Scottish Storytelling Centre, 556 9579, 9–30 Aug (not 16 & 23), 10.30am, £7.50 (£5). Preview 6 Aug, 10.30am, £5.
WHITE Tailor-made for toddlers
White is a show borne out of an understanding of, and fascination with, the way toddlers’ minds work. Co- creators and performers Andy Manley and Ian Cameron have kept the story and language simple, while the set has been built with award-winning puppeteer and designer Shona Reppe’s eye for fine detail. Extending beyond the performance space out into the Scottish Book Trust gardens,
White gives keen-eyed little ones a chance to spot some of the show’s motifs among the trees.
The central story is of two men who live together in a white tepee, in a white world, looking after white eggs that drop from the sky. They fastidiously sweep away any bits of colour that find their way into their environment, until one day a red egg arrives. ‘There are real dilemmas and truthful emotions,’ explains Manley. ‘And it’s quite surreal – but then I think two to four-year-olds live in quite a surreal world.’ (Laura Ennor) ■ Traverse @ Scottish Book Trust, 228 1404, 6–29 Aug (not 9, 14–16, 23), 10.30am, £6 (£5). Preview 5 Aug, 10.30am, £4.
As his witty homage to Robert Burns, Oor Rabbie and re-working of Tam O’Shanter ably proved, Andy Cannon knows a thing or two about Scotland’s bard. Teaming up once again with musician Wendy Weatherby, Cannon is taking on yet another Burns poem, Wee Willie Gray. What is it about the poet that hits the spot with children? ‘I think the appeal is essentially his
TWINKLE TWONKLE Tall Stories reach for the stars with their latest show
Known for their respectful and highly entertaining adaptations of popular picture books The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom, sometimes Tall Stories just like to do their own thing. And, as shows like The Snow Dragon and Them with Tails demonstrated, they’re very good at that, too. Devised by the company, Twinkle Twonkle weaves well-known nursery rhymes and the Big Bang theory into the exciting tale of a little boy called Ryan who loses his teddy. When he goes into outer space to look for it, Ryan’s older sister Stellar has to venture up after him, encountering planets and stars along the way. Meanwhile, those in the audience are being entertained and surreptitiously educated at the same time.
‘We find that the four-year-olds enjoy the nursery
rhymes, and the fun and adventure of the story,’ says director Toby Mitchell. ‘Then the kids aged five and up enjoy the story as well as understanding more of the science behind it. And of course the adults watching remember stuff they once knew about astronomy and science! But the “factual” parts of the show are woven in carefully, so it never seems like we’re actually teaching anything.’
As with all Tall Stories shows, there will be music and song, strong character acting and a storyline that carries you along. Or, as Mitchell puts it: ‘In the end, our shows all come down to a bunch of people in a room, experiencing together a strong exciting story, full of good characters, music and humour.’ (Kelly Apter) ■ Pleasance Dome, 556 6550, 7–30 Aug (not 18, 25), 2pm, £8.50–£9.50 (£7.50–£8.50). Previews until 6 Aug, 2pm, £6.50.
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