{KIDS} Reviews
SNOW PLAY Fun and frolics in the snow ●●●●●
It may have caused the grown-ups a few problems earlier this year, but for children, snow is never a burden. Faced with falling flakes and a snowy white landscape, traffic infrastructure is far from their mind. Scottish/Italian company Lyngo Theatre may not have real snow in its simple yet highly effective show, but the cotton wool-style substitute goes down a storm with its young audience. Returning from his holiday in warmer climes, Mr Green
(aka spring) finds an uninvited guest in his house. A guest who refuses to leave and, worse still, insists on making an increasingly bigger mess in Mr Green’s garden and living room. It transpires the unwelcome visitor is Mr White (aka winter) who can’t quite cope with the fact that his time (for this year at least) is over. Both Patrick Lynch (Green) and Carlo Rossi (White) have a warm performance style that instantly puts the audience at ease. Even though we know Mr Green is in the right, we’re really not sure who to root for, so amiable are both characters. Early on, Rossi enlists the help of two adults from the audience, and if children are left wondering why they haven’t been chosen instead, the answer soon reveals itself.
Layers of snow, imaginary furniture and even Mr White himself are carried in and out of the house by the volunteers, adding some lovely comic touches without ever veering into the realm of audience humiliation. But the real fun comes from the moments when children can get involved. Shrieks of pleasure accompany them ploughing onto the stage to cover Mr White in false snow or pelt Mr Green and his tennis racket with snow balls. Best of all, there’s no damp, soggy mess to clear up afterwards. (Kelly Apter) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 29 Aug, 11.20am, £8 (£6).
TIM AND LIGHT An ode to friendship for all ages ●●●●● BUBBLEWRAP AND BOXES ●●●●● Mayhem in the mail room
L A V I T S E F
Hal Chambers has created a mesmerising original tale in Tim and Light. Under his direction, the story comes to life through a group of talented actors and puppeteers who manipulate a range of household items to assemble a charming landscape with more than a passing resemblance to a child’s play area.
An old bed sheet becomes a backdrop for captivating shadow puppetry, and a chest of drawers doubles up as a mini-stage and railway station. With these humble props, the story of 13- year-old Tim and his cat, Light, unfolds as the duo go on a mysterious journey that ends at an old house. Here, they find an imprisoned girl and discover the sinister motives of its occupant in a wonderfully dramatised flashback scene. While the peripheral characters are fun and
engaging, Tim – a beautifully crafted puppet – is more than worth his central status. The actors make him really seem like a gawky teenager. The intricacy of the story means that the attention span of very young children may wander, but this is much more than just a show for kids: it’s an ode to friendship with which people of any age can identify. (Yasmin Sulaiman) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 29 Aug, 12.30pm, £9–£8 (£8–£7).
56 THE LIST 18–25 Aug 2011
Australian company Asking For Trouble has much in its favour: a set comprised of large, medium and small cardboard boxes, ripe for manoeuvre and exploration; two performers highly skilled in clowning and acrobatics; and a storyline set in a mail room filled with post from around the world. Yet somehow none of it is used to its full potential. The opening sequences are wonderfully silly, as the orderly postal worker (played with wide-eyed wonder by Luke O’Connor) endeavours to keep things tidy, his task hindered by the arrival of an enormous box which seemingly moves of its own accord. When a maverick young woman pops out (the bendy and acrobatic Cristy Flaws), all hell breaks lose. There are some nice ideas along the way – postcards and letters are read out, imaginary journeys are taken to locations seen on postcards. But you have to wonder whether some of the younger children have a clue what’s going on, when assumptions are made about where the postcards hail from. O’Connor and Flaws are lively enough but you can’t help but think they could easily keep all of us engaged all of the time (Kelly Apter) ■ Gilded Balloon Teviot, 622 6552, until 21 Aug, 10.45am, £8–£9 (£7–£8).
CLOUD MAN Delightful puppet show with its head in the clouds ●●●●●
Puppet maker/performer Ailie Cohen has been delighting young folk and their grown-ups for many a Fringe with her original stories and fairy-tale adaptations. Cloud Man is no exception, a deceptively simple story that will melt even the flintiest of hearts.
Dressed in a green mac and sporting thick specs, Cohen plays Cloudia, a boffin obsessed with the idea of spotting ‘cloud men’, the shy retiring creatures who lead quiet lives up in the sky. She follows her dream all the way to the top of Cloud Mountain, where she sets up camp, follows the tiny white footprints and waits for the fluffy ones to make their appearance.
Cohen’s major achievement here is to create a completely immersive world that barely requires you to suspend your disbelief. Her lovely wooden hut set opens out and out into a doll’s house of delights, the physical comedy is gentle but good fun, and when the cloud man eventually appears, the interactions between the wee critter and his tracker are funny and, ultimately, very touching. (Allan Radcliffe) ■ Hill Street Theatre, 226 6522, until 24 Aug, 11am, £7.50 (£5).