Catherine Bennett resumes the weekly look at the performing arts world, with the sad end of Jerusalem, the luck of a cabbie, and French revolt. Do you hear the people sing?
Adam Alcock reviews Nigel Kennedy playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons and his own Four Elements at York Opera House.
Catherine Bennett highlights the trends in the performing arts world today.
Jonathan Cridford reviews 'Ghosts', one of the Freshers' plays for this year.
This week, for two days only, Mind the Gap brings its production of Stig of the Dump to the studio of York Theatre Royal. An ideal school trip, the play is aimed at children of a primary school age, and reimagines the classic Clive King story in a more episodic form- including in particular the addition of a new character: Grandpa.
Something that should never be forgotten in children’s theatre is that kids hate to be patronised. The secret is lowering the register without making it apparent that you’ve done so; in other words, don’t let them figure out that it is children’s theatre. This is exactly what Daniel Collier in the pivotal role of Barney fails to do: as the protagonist, and playing an 8-year-old boy, he’s the centre of attention for the young audience. To call his performance over the top would be a huge understatement: Collier is really hamming it up to the max here, and it doesn’t look good. It alienates the audience from the whole play, and generally makes it a lot harder to watch.
JoAnne Haines, by contrast, is a much more believable child in the role of Lou. It’s probably something to do with her being closer to the age group she’s portraying, but the unhurried, comfortable portrayal is a lot more easy to deal with, and a lot more engaging for a coeval audience. She also doesn’t resort to stereotypes as much (the crutch of the lazy actor). You can’t just assume that children aren’t going to notice these things - they’re actually a frighteningly perceptive bunch.
The set is wonderfully well designed, and there are a lot of moments which really bring out the wonder and energy of the play, in particular when a water-catching contraption that Stig has made out of old bits is demonstrated by fixing it together and pouring water in the top. This moment really captured the fascinating, watchable side of invention, something which fitted the story very well. Another moment - which is nothing short of brilliant - is when the stage is lit up by UV lights for the penultimate scene, revealing tribal patterns painted all over the space in UV paint. Needless to say, this was a phenomenon which amazed and baffled the primary school crowd, who for the most part could not get to the bottom of this trick. From start to finish, in fact, Stig is a very well-produced show; great set and costuming, and good puppets too, as well as being visually interesting enough to keep the kids concentrating.
Mike Kenny’s rewriting of the Clive King original is very workable onstage, and ends up being very appropriate for the young audience. The episodic structure in particular keeps the performance fresh and varied, suiting all attention spans in the process. The character of Grandpa was a worthwhile addition as he brought a lot of humour into the story. I would have liked to have seen something more done with him, however - he certainly didn’t steal the show, and was more often seen than heard.
Stig of the Dump is a nice little piece of children’s theatre, and has succeeded in retaining a lot of the magic and memorability of the original. Despite the disparate elements which are likely to leave some kids underwhelmed, there’s a lot to look at, a lot to keep the story moving, and overall plenty to keep you interested. Well worth a matinee, if you happen to be in charge of thirty or so primary school children and without a lesson plan.
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