UK Theatre Network

Vicky Ireland's adaptation of The Hare and the Tortoise at the Queen's Theatre forms part of the Theatre for Young Minds programme which is run by the Theatre's Education and Outreach Department. The scheme will be taking the production to schools and children's venues around Essex and East London, aiming to introduce young children to live performance.

Members of Cut to the Chase welcomed the audience into the small village, children could sit in the middle to enjoy the action from all sides. I was shown to my seat by Earnest the Tortoise, the unlikely hero, whilst Gussy Spike, the melodic hedgehog sang us a song and the other characters played us in with a guitar and an accordion.  

The evil, fiddle toting Rhoda Skunk informs us, "I'm a business skunk," as she reveals her plans to turn the whole countryside into tarmac, leaving Earnest and his friends homeless in the process. Earnest and Gussy intend to fight Rhoda and Judge Fairweather decides that the matter will be resolved in a race around the town. Harold Bigfeet, the Hare who performs cartwheels and ballet style leaps, will represent the fast team and Earnest, the methodical and thoughtful tortoise, will race for the slow team.

Harold plays many tricks on the honest Ernest including switching road signs, but the audience (eventually) inform Earnest of this.  Suddenly the story takes a twist when aliens appear from another world and abduct the racers, leaving the fate of planet Earth in their hands.

Important issues were touched on, such as the need to slow down our fast paced lives and the danger of roads was nicely included during the Green Cross Code song. All sound effects and musical accompaniment were provided by the ever resourceful cast.

Never work with children and animals?  Well, the animals in this production were extremely well trained and the children were quiet as mice, sometimes too quiet, but judging by the looks of awe on their faces at the singing and dancing characters, they were highly entertained.

The Hare and Tortoise

The Queen’s Theatre Foyer, Billet Lane, Hornchurch RM11 1QT

Tube: Hornchurch

Tickets: £5

Box Office: 01708 443333

Website: www.queens-theatre.co.uk

We’re Going On A Bear Hunt

Theatre Royal, Newcastle        

Direct from its success in the West End this summer, Sally Cookson’s stage adaptation of ‘We’re Going On A Bear Hunt’ by Children’s Laureate Michael Rosen is brought vividly, noisily and colourfully to life on stage at the Theatre Royal, Newcastle.

Rosen wrote the Smarties Book Prize Winner in 1989, inspired by an American summer camp song. The story tells of a family’s intrepid expedition in their quest to find a wild bear. Aimed at children aged 3 and above, the show is a fantastic fifty five minutes of fun and frolics that is a terrific treat for even the tiniest of tots.

The action combines all the things that kids love – the great outdoors, nature and discovery – as the five adventurers, comprising father, son, daughter, baby and dog, onomatopoeically explore grassy fields, flowing rivers, muddy swamps, dark forests, swirling snowstorms and creepy caves.

Not only is the story startlingly simple, it is also exciting, entertaining and educational. The recurring title song, from Benji Bower’s quirky score, is catchy and simple enough for the youngsters to remember and join in with.

Colourful sets and costumes, inspired by Helen Oxenbury’s original illustrations and designed by Katie Sykes, ensure that the children are always visually stimulated, too. The atmosphere and mood is further enhanced by Tony Simpson’s lighting and Jason Barnes’ sound, whilst the performances are delivered with energy and enthusiasm from a cast who are supremely comfortable in the art of entertaining little ones.

Judging from the reaction of the children in the audience, ‘We’re Going On A Bear Hunt’ is the perfect production to ensure that kids become hooked, from the earliest possible age, on the eclectic experience that live theatre offers. And that can, surely, only be commendable.

Steve Burbridge.

Runs at Theatre Royal, Newcastle until Saturday 10 October 2009.

Photo by Bob Workman.

Review by Laura Pearson.

The B.F.G took to the King's Theatre in Glasgow last night for the first performance of its run in the city providing the audience with a low-quality production.  With a touring production covering major theatre venues one would expect a show with high-production values.  What was witnessed was something that would be more suited to a school hall.  It had all the qualities and charms of a primary school touring production or festival storytelling event and none of the pizzazz that one would expect to come from a major theatrical venue production about a magical giant.

It is indeed a storytelling session rather than a play.  Any hopes of entering another world and suspending disbelief are shattered within the first five minutes as the cast announce that they are going to 'pretend' to be giants and tell Roald Dahl's story to us rather than just bring the story to life in a realistic way.

The play begins with the birthday party of Sophie and when the booked entertainment doesn't arrive the party guests decide to act out the story of The B.F.G instead using Sophie's costume box.  It's a premise that does not work well at all.  One is aware throughout that we are not indeed watching a giant but that we are watching guests at a birthday party pretending to be giants, hence cutting off any emotional response or captivation from the audience with the material so carefully crafted by Dahl.

In the story, a little girl called Sophie is taken from her Orphanage by the Big Friendly Giant and taken to a land where horrible child-eating giants are its citizens. With all the modern theatrical effects that can so easily be achieved this story could have been told in such a realistic, believable and emotion-rousing way.  Instead, what the production provides is a little rag doll called Sophie being held and moved by the adult-sized Sophie at the birthday party.  With her standing next to a regular sized man, who was indeed the father in the birthday party scene, and who has done little to change his appearance except put on a cloak and sandals; one cannot fathom a relationship between a little girl and a giant at all.

This is indeed a very low-budget production.  Costume is used very poorly and adds nothing to the atmosphere that the cast are trying to create. The rest of the birthday party guests remain in their own clothes as they put on the heads of giants.  They also play their own instruments providing the soundtrack to the story which only adds to the problem of realism and believability.  The set is also very simple, creating nothing of a magical atmosphere.  The space was not put to good use at all. Flaws in the design are evident right from the start when white rag doll Sophie spends all of her time on a white table making it impossible for the audience to experience the nuances of the doll's movements being made by the adult actor holding her.

The cast also do very little to allow us to imagine the characters that they are portraying.  They are all visibly adult actors playing children; and the show's attempts to make this believable aren't pulled off.

Children aged five to ten who enjoy being told a story would probably enjoy this. Anyone else should steer clear. It's 'The B.F.G' on a budget. A production that fails either to captivate or enchant.

Listings Info:

THE BFG

King’s Theatre, Glasgow

1 – 5 September @ 7pm

Tue & Fri @ 7pm

Wed 10.30pm & 5pm

Thu 1.30pm & 5pm

Sat 11am, 2pm & 6pm

Tickets: £10 - £16.50

Box Office 08448 717 648 (Bkg fee)

www.ambassadortickets.com/glasgow (bkg fee)

Some mysteries may never be solved.  Why do cartoon characters make ‘screech’ noises when they stop running?  Why do we laugh loudest at physical comedy?  And why do pirates all over the world have Cornish accents?  One thing is for sure, though, when Scooby-Doo and those "meddling kids" from Mystery Inc. are on the scene, the mystery will always be solved!

Based on Hanna-Barbera’s loveable characters, Fred, Velma, Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo, the storyline follows the gang as they search for clues to solve the mystery of a holiday island where all of the tourists have been scared away by ghostly pirates.

The show set off at a cracking pace and kept the young audience’s attention with a combination of over the top physical comedy, whacky chase scenes, colourful costumes and high energy musical entertainment.  The adults were entertained too by liberal references to the classic cartoon show from their youth.  This aspect of the show was particularly successful due to some excellent attention to detail.  For example, dancing involved each character repeating a simple unique move and laughing always involved excessive shoulder shrugging with straight arms … just like in the cartoon!

Technically the show was very ambitious, although this was cleverly and smoothly executed in order to divert attention from the technical details.  Most impressive was the extensive use of sound effects and music from the original cartoons.  Characters bouncing on trampolines, skidding to a halt, running while being held still by captors, etc. did so with exactly the same sound used in the cartoon.  Of course, this went right over the kids’ heads, but the adults got a kick out of it.

Matthew Bloxham’s portrayal of Shaggy was the stand-out performance for me.  I had set the bar high for the delivery of Shaggy’s role and he conjured up a character voice and physicality that matched my memories of my favourite character from the show.

This is a great family show with high production values and reasonably priced family tickets.

Listings Info:

Scooby Doo and the Pirate Ghost

Wed 24 – Sun 28 June

Wed & Thu 6.30pm

Friday 2.30pm & 6.30pm

Sat 11am, 2.30pm & 6.30pm

Sun 11am & 2.30pm

Family Ticket: Group of 4, max 2 adults

Weekdays £57 and £43

Weekends £64 and £48