Festival Kids
For everything you need to know about all the Festivals visit www.list.co.uk/festival NEXT ISSUE OUT WEDNESDAY 18 AUGUST
GREEK MYTHS FOR KIDS Tales of kings, heroes and monsters ●●●●●
This is the debut show from the newly- formed Backhand Theatre company, and to a certain extent, it shows. There’s nothing new or overly exciting here, and the performances are solid rather than outstanding. That said, the company shows
promise, and this lively mix of puppetry and storytelling manages one crucial thing – to tell complex tales with clarity. Both Theseus and the Minotaur and Perseus and Medusa are delivered with complete consideration for their young audience, using a mix of shadow and hand-held puppets. Plus a few nice comic moments dropped in to counter the snakes and monsters.
At just 30 minutes long (despite claims of 50 in the Fringe programme) we could have done with a third myth for our money – and the audience was suitably engaged to have gone the distance. (Kelly Apter) ■ C Aquila, 0845 260 1234, until 30 Aug (not 17), noon, £6.50–£8.50 (£4.50–£7.50).
THE EMPEROR’S QUEST Chinese folk tale with a modern flavour ●●●●●
The ageing Emperor is searching for a successor, and to help him decide he gives each child in his realm a seed to nurture. We follow green-fingered Ling and her pals, streetwise Soo and fretful Bobo, in their quest to grow the 58 THE LIST 12–19 Aug 2010
STICK MAN Lively adaptation hits the spot ●●●●● Julia Donaldson’s 2008 picture book, Stick Man isn’t the longest tale in the world, so anyone looking to adapt it would have to cast around for some pretty extensive padding.
Each interlude is surrounded by movement and song, often with a fun element of audience interaction, such as a beachball batted out into the crowd to whoops of delight. The simple yet hugely effective set uses a curved platform for the ‘family tree’, and a small area entirely devoted to percussion instruments, which embellish the already lively score.
Leave it to the formidable Scamp Theatre to do just Our hero and his family are made just as they should
that. Performed by three talented actors, this charming tale of a happy stick family temporarily torn apart by happenstance, is both witty and moving in turns. Out for a morning jog, Stick Man finds himself toyed
with by a pesky dog, thrown into the river by a pooh sticks-loving girl, used as a bat by a young couple on the beach, then left to freeze in the snow – before finally being rescued by everyone’s favourite Christmas guest, Santa.
be – out of wood, with each of the five figures (the ‘Stick Man, his lady love and his stick children three’) held by the actors. The simple donning of a fur coat (the dog) or a red hair bow (the girl) takes them from one character to the next without any fear of confusion. And as the happy ending approaches, there’s no doubt you’ve been taken on a real adventure. (Kelly Apter) ■ Udderbelly’s Pasture, until 30 August (not 16), 12.30pm, £11 (£9).
winning flower. Based on a Chinese folk tale, this is a strong Fringe debut from a joint British/South Korean company. Writers Susannah Pearse and Youn
Young Park have fashioned an engaging tale that will appeal to girls and boys aged 4+ alike, with a good balance between catchy songs and snappy dialogue, and a witty, satisfying moral at the end.
For grown-ups, there’s an enjoyable send-up of pushy parenting in Bobo’s bullying, wheeler-dealing father and Soo’s school-gate tyrant of a mother, who launches a website to promote her daughter’s plant (a lovely comic turn from Heather Hunter). Arrive early for an Emperor’s Garden workshop where kids can design flowers for the stage set. (Paul Barnaby) ■ C, 0845 260 1234, until 30 Aug, 11.15am, £6.50—£8.50 (£4.50— £6.50).
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CHARLIE AND LOLA’S BEST BESTEST PLAY TV siblings take to the stage ●●●●●
When you’re taking a product as insanely successful as Lauren Child’s Charlie and Lola series and attempting to do something new, it can be a risky business. Both the books and the TV programmes have garnered millions of fans, some of whom sat expectantly in the Pleasance Courtyard waiting to see who – or what – would appear on stage. Fortunately, Watershed Productions haven’t tried to dress up a diminutive actress as Lola or turn her into a 3D
puppet – they know better than that. Instead they deliver two C&L favourites (‘It is absolutely completely not messy’ and ‘I’m not sleepy and I will not go to bed’) with 2D cardboard figures, four energetic performers, an endless supply of props and two memorable ‘ooh’ moments with butterflies floating from above and bubbles bursting into the air. The result is utterly charming, and engaging for even the figitiest of toddlers. (Kelly Apter) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 18 Aug, 10am & 11.30am, £10–£11.
TWINKLE TWONKLE Adventure in the sky at night ●●●●● Imparting information in a show, without turning your stage into a