KIDS | Previews & Reviews 62 THE LIST 1 Sep–31 Oct 2017
BOOK ADAPTATION AWFUL AUNTIE Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Thu 28–Sat 30 Sep
Grown-ups know David Walliams as a television personality from Little Britain and Britain’s Got Talent, but the younger generation is probably more aware of him as the prolific and best-selling writer of a range of children’s books in the Roald Dahl tradition. A good indicator of just how popular his works are is how readily theatre groups adapt them, and this autumn will see the arrival of the latest book-to-stage transfer – 2014’s Awful Auntie, in which awful Aunt Alberta and her owl try to take young Stella Saxby’s inheritance from her. ‘I adored the book when I read it and fell totally in love with Stella,’ says adaptor / director, Neal Foster, of Birmingham Stage Company who have previously adapted Walliams’ Gangsta Granny. ‘I knew this gripping and very unusual story would make a fabulous theatre show, with an epic struggle between two very strong female characters.
‘The problem was, I had no idea how it
could be physically done, but my wonderful set designer Jackie Trousdale has created a very adventurous and ambitious set. It recreates Saxby Hall with a Rolls Royce car, a giant owl and special effects, all wrapped up in the most thrilling story which unfolds in real time. If we get it right, it will be scary and hilarious all at the same time.’ (David Pollock)
INTERACTIVE BOOKLET FAMILY ART TRAIL Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, until Sun 29 Oct ●●●●●
If the recent proposal to close Inverleith House as an art gallery served to remind people just how wonderful a place to see art it is, the current exhibition Plant Scenery of the World doubles that resolve. The gallery has produced a smart little resource for families, too, in the form of a small booklet
for children to fill in as they go round the exhibition. It is best-suited to the kind of lively minded over-six-year-old who is happy to lie on the floor and draw. At its best, it really enhances the more abstract elements of the exhibition – and it’s worth grabbing a copy even if you are kid-free.
Younger children will need more guidance and the booklet better serves as a handy tool for
adults to help the child engage with the art. Not that any is needed in the super-tactile room with big glass eyes where you take your shoes off to walk on the fabric-lined floor. Not all elements can be rendered child-friendly. Perhaps the most interesting room is hung
with Victorian drawings prepared for a book which was never published. The pictures contain fantastic detail of exotic plants and animals, but are just too high for anyone under five foot, or in a wheelchair.
However, the booklet serves its purpose well. There are drawing and colouring activities in the basement of the building, too, but if engagement is what you want, not rainy day activities, then grab the booklet on the way in. (Thom Dibdin)
PLAY ROCKET POST Platform, Glasgow, Tue 19 & Wed 20 Sep, then touring Scotland until end of Oct
It’s 1934 and German rocket scientist named Gerhard Zucker is about to show off his fantastic new invention. He’s designed a rocket, he says, which will be used to deliver post, and he’s going to launch it from the Western Isles of Scarp to Harris. The fact we don’t launch letters by missile in the 21st century probably tells us all we need to know about the success of his mission, but it’s a great story, which is why the National Theatre of Scotland have adapted it as a children’s play. ‘Some people think Gerhard was a fraud and trickster, others think he was a pretty poor scientist
but an excellent showman,’ says writer and director, Lewis Hetherington. ‘Some think he had the makings of a great rocketeer, some think he was a dangerous eccentric. That’s partly what appealed to me – trying to find the story amongst the fragments of history, to make sense of how he might have been. Plus the idea of rockets full of letters exploding into the sky feels like such a great metaphor for communication going in the most surprising and unexpected directions.’
In this story, Hetherington sees a wealth of relatable themes – of ambition, failure, hope and a sense of connection. ‘A big part of the story is about a young girl called Bellag,’ he says, ‘and how inspired and amazed she is by this newcomer, how he expands her worldview and challenges everything she knows. The show is staged in a way that feels like you’re part of the action. I like the idea of it feeling like a group of people round a campfire, all sharing a moment before heading off back to our own lives.’ (David Pollock)