F E S T I VA L K I D S | Reviews
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I W R G H T
I'LL TAKE YOU TO MRS COLE! Imaginative tale of two-tone music and single parenting ●●●●●
Ashley’s fed-up tidying the house, she wants to play her new records and dance instead. Even better, she wants to dress up as Princess Leia and act out her favourite Star Wars fantasy. But mum’s on her case again, looking for help to keep the house spick and span. Meanwhile, up the road, Mrs Cole lives in a jumbled mess of
a house – and if Ashley’s not good, mum will send her there as a punishment. Based on Nigel Gray and Michael Foreman’s picture book, but re-imagined by acclaimed theatre companies Complicité and Polka, I’ll Take You to Mrs Cole! is a visual and musical delight for the ears and eyes.
Set in Coventry in 1981, the home of two-tone music and an era
of racial tension on the streets, the show blends Gray’s original story with historical references. So while Ashley is the focus, the world she’s growing up in is woven throughout her story and songs (much of which will be lost on the children watching, but it’s fuel for conversations with their grown-ups later). As you would expect from Complicité, the theatre space is as much a part of the show as the actors. Images of what’s going on inside Ashley’s head are interspersed with archive footage, and projected onto everything from the wall to the fridge, while each challenge Ashley faces is met with a two-tone tune that has the audience bopping in their seats.
At its core, however, this is a show about acceptance, which
is played out beautifully. Ashley’s house is run on tidiness and discipline, Mrs Coles’ is organised chaos – neither one is better than the other, they’re just different approaches to life. (Kelly Apter) n Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug, 1.45pm, £11–£12 (£10–£11).
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ONE DUCK DOWN Engaging tale highlights the perils of plastic ●●●●●
COMÈTE Perfect introduction to gig-going for kids ●●●●● MUSTARD DOESN’T GO WITH GIRLS Young girls sets the world to rights in this lively musical ●●●●●
He’s painted a lighthouse without using ladders, taught the local seagulls to sing the national anthem, and now Billy has just one task left to prove his love for the demanding girl he loves. It’s his biggest quest yet – to reclaim 7000 yellow
rubber ducks from the oceans and seas of the world and bring them home. Along the way he meets two birds with their necks stuck in a bottle top, an Arctic polar bear who’s run out of ice to stand on, and a family of crabs clinging to a pile of rubbish as if it’s home. The story in One Duck Down may be fiction,
but the event it’s based on is true – thousands of plastic ducks really did fall off the back of a tanker. And, of course, our oceans really are filled with plastic, and marine and birdlife die each day as a result.
So hats off to Faceplant Theatre for finding a
colourful and engaging way to deliver this message to a young audience, without ever labouring the point. Which goes some way to making up for the fact that almost all the witty wordplay is for the adults, not the children. (Kelly Apter) n Pleasance Courtyard, until 26 Aug (not 20), 10.30am, £8–£10 (£7–£9).
70 THE LIST FESTIVAL 14–26 Aug 2019
It’s never too early to expose your child to their first live music experience; and in the case of the Belgian Compagnie Dérivation’s in-house band Comète, it really is an early time. Half past ten in the morning might seem unnaturally early for parents to be dancing around to a rock group in a music venue, but it’s probably the point in the day when children have the most energy to burn off. Consisting of a quartet of musicians arranged in the traditional guitars-bass-drums format, Comète takes its members from a variety of Brussels indie groups. Their show is conventional by normal rock standards, but for kids, it’s the perfect introduction to the basics of concert-going. The sound is at normal gig level, if not abrasively loud, and the music includes a number of covers alongside the group’s own material.
They play songs fit for different styles of dancing,
including Hot Chip’s ‘Over and Over’ and the Clash’s ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go’, as well as more eclectic bursts of Francois Hardy and Trio’s ‘Da Da Da’, the latter on ‘the world’s smallest synthesiser’.
By the end, most of the audience, young and old, have forgotten the time and are out of their seats and dancing in the aisles. (David Pollock) n Assembly Checkpoint, until 26 Aug, 10.30am, £9– £11 (£8– £10).
There’s a strong message about gender, conformity and challenging the status quo in this new show from Bric à Brac theatre. It’s also not short on witty characters or passionate performances. But the storytelling and language are tell-tale signs that this is the company’s first show for children. Tales within tales always come with an extra layer
of complexity, and the performers do their best to delineate the two worlds. First, we meet a crocodile librarian on her last day at work (she’s been asked to leave as she’s too scary – though in truth she’s utterly loveable), trying to work out which section of the library to place her only un-read book. Then off we go, inside the world of the book, where
another crocodile (only this one’s mean) is ruling the town of Bow-on-Tie with an iron fist. Boys aren’t allowed to bake or dance, girls can’t do science or think about anything too complicated. That is until young Abigail discovers the croc’s dark secret and sets about putting things right. What it lacks in clarity, the show makes up for with enthusiasm, leading to a fun way to spend an hour. (Kelly Apter) n Pleasance Courtyard, until 23 Aug, 11.30am, £10–£11 (£8–£9).