REVIEWS FESTIVAL KIDS
LIST.CO.UK/FESTIVAL
SUPERJOHN Plucky superhero fights for survival ●●●●●
Creating a show about a child in need of a bone marrow transplant was never going to be easy. It’s a subject most children don’t really understand, and parents don’t want to think about. It’s part of life, however, and if you’re going to
tackle such potentially depressing material, then this is probably the way to go about it. Despite being confined to a hospital bed, the eponymous John manages huge leaps of the imagination, journeying on a quest to find the magic ‘orb’ (aka wellness). On one level, this is a sensitive portrayal of how illness affects the entire family – from the emotionally drained single mum, to the troubled sister who just wants things to be normal (and isn’t too keen on being a bone marrow donor, either).
But in order to elevate this to a child-friendly level,
a dramatic (but not always entirely clear) metaphor evolves, incorporating an evil Blood Queen and a ‘field of flowers’ (good bone marrow). For the most part, the energetic cast keep the
show coasting at a decent pace, but at an hour and 15 minutes, it’s just too long. (Kelly Apter) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 27 Aug, 11.25am, £9–£10 (£7.50–£8.50).
THE I HATE CHILDREN CHILDREN’S SHOW Dude in pith helmet does close up magic to Muddy Waters soundtrack ●●●●●
I wish I had a louche American uncle who cracks open the ‘champagne’ (warm cava) at noon and does magic tricks in his skanky flat while the lodger strums a blues guitar. The I Hate Children Children’s Show is the next
best thing: Paul Nathan is as good at reading giggly 11-year-old girls as he is at making balloon poodles and pulling silk scarves out of little boys’ T-shirts. Beneath the delightfully shambolic surface – props in a suitcase, time-checks on Nathan’s mobile phone – this is a crack magician pretending to be an avuncluar dude in a pith helmet and Crocs.
He plays rubbish tricks for laughs, castigates the guitarist for playing ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ so enthusiastically that he forgets a vital swap and mixes in some advanced magical pyrotechnics with a light hand. And has a blast. When three little sisters reluctantly join him on stage, arms crossed, and refuse to disco dance in animal noses while the audience sings ‘Old MacDonald Had A Farm’, he finds it as funny as we do. (Anna Burnside) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 27 Aug, 12.15pm, £8–£9 (£7–£8).
THE SNAIL AND THE WHALE Father and daughter adventure across the seas ●●●●●
Tall Stories are no strangers to the inside of a Julia Donaldson picture book, having made their name on the children’s theatre circuit with The Gruffalo over ten years ago. Since then, they’ve tackled The Gruffalo’s Child and Room on the Broom, and if The Snail and the
Whale doesn’t quite live up to the show-stopping brilliance of the latter, it’s still an inventive and charming adaptation. There isn’t a huge amount of text in Donaldson’s original to stretch out into a 50-minute show, so Tall Stories have explored the relationships that bring those books to life for children every night of the week across Britain.
A father, about to head off to sea, tries to encourage his little girl to go bed. She’s not interested, of
course, and wants him to read their favourite book (no prizes for guessing what that is). There’s no time to finish it, but a few weeks later, a letter arrives from the father’s naval ship, containing a CD recording of the story (a situation based on the real-life ‘Storybook Soldiers’ initiative). With father and daughter separated by miles, the recording reminds them both of fun they’ve had in previous times. The bedroom furniture becomes a large, grey humpback whale, a cuddly toy the snail, and the entire audience plays the part of the class of school children.
As we’ve come to expect from Tall Stories, this is a breed apart from the poo and wee gag kids
shows you find on the Fringe, concentrating instead on imaginative storytelling and characterisation. If there’s one complaint, it’s the absence of catchy songs that usually dominate their shows, with just one woven into this production. (Kelly Apter) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 26 Aug, 3pm, £8.50–£9.50 (£7.50–£8.50).
THE UGLY DUCKLING Charming show proves beauty’s only skin deep ●●●●●
There are some valuable lessons to be learned in this simple yet effective show by Kipper Tie Theatre. Namely that being brave, imaginative and clever is a whole lot more important than being beautiful. Performers Bernie Byrnes and Sally Lofthouse are both dab hands at characterisation, with Lofthouse portraying the lonely but ever-hopeful duckling, and Byrnes switching from Scottish duck, to cockney dog, northern English hen and finally a scouse swan. The use of British Sign Language in places, to embellish the dialogue, is also a nice touch – both for those who already use it, and to teach a smat- tering to those who don’t.
The song and dance routines can be a little under- whelming at times, and some of the lyrics will fly over the heads of younger viewers. But the comic timing of both actors, and the show’s central mes- sage of friendship and kindness, make this a show well worth checking out. (Kelly Apter) ■ C Chambers Street, 0845 260 1234, until 27 Aug (not 14, 21), 10am, £7.50–£9.50 (£3.50–£7.50).
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