May 30, 2010
On a sunny Sunday afternoon before a bank holiday, it was a delight to see so many tiny children squealing and guffawing in pleasure at a 3-man theatre show inspired by mime legend Marcel Marceau. The show literature warns you to give the clowns as good as they get, and it's not a false warning: at one point I whipped my glasses off and hid them in my skirt rather than have them purloined by a cheeky miscreant. There is audience participation from the word go, as heads and seats are swept and the audience is poked, prodded and provoked. A big, bold, infectiously bouncy soundtrack - along with electronic sound effects played live - accompany the antics of these big, bold, bouncing characters in their paper world. As the clowns keep us guessing at what they're doing - or trying (and failing) to do - in this world, what havoc they will wreak next on their minimal environment and what surprise characters lurk around the corner, there are some truly beautiful moments of physical theatre as a virtually two-dimensional set is opened up into a multi-dimensional world of possibilities and imagination.
If you ever wanted a way to gently introduce your adventurous little one to how fun the theatre can be, this would be a very good place to start.
If you ever wanted a way to gently introduce your adventurous little one to how fun the theatre can be, this would be a very good place to start.