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Cloudland
(England) - Scottish Premiere.
Part of the 2004 Bank Of Scotland Children's International Theatre Festival
organised by Imaginate.
Adaptors - The Company from the book by John Burningham.
Director - Sally Cookson.
Designer - Katie Sykes.
Composer and Music Director - Stu Barker.
Lighting Designer - Jo Woodcock.
Puppets designers and makers - Marc Parrett.
Choreographer - Janis Claxton.
Cast - Dad/Cloud Child - Joseph Carey, Mum/Cloud Child - Lucky Tock and
Albert - Frank Wurzinger. Musician - Sarah Moody.
Company - Travelling Light Theatre Company - Website.
Seen to review on 29 May at Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh.
Run Time - 50 mins.
Suggested Age - 3+ years.
Reviewer - Thelma Good.
Need to add to too simple story.
Dramatising John Burningham's tale of Albert who fell off a high mountain
into the world of clouds has some fine sequences of dance song and acting
but it isn't enough. Travelling Light's Cloudland is overly long, lacking
in incident and isn't tightly enough directed to engage the 3+ age group
it's aimed at.
But the cast, including the musician and Marc Parrett's puppets, all
display talents that make you hope they'll get the opportunity to work
together another time. This production is designed for small studio theatres
and even the relatively small proscenium arched stage of the Royal Lyceum
is too big for Travelling Light's Cloudland.
Childrens' Theatre Companies often rely on retelling a well known yarn
or a successfully published book. It can work when the company gives the
original additional embellishments beyond making it moves and speak. But
what more actors and creators of children's theatre need is to come up
with a fresh original story to make a dramatically satisfying experience.
I've sat in audiences where six month olds have followed with fascination
quite dynamic plots and in others, like Cloudland where the children it's
for have grown increasingly disinterested as what plot there is is spread
too thin. Theatre for those newish humans need to remember children, trying
to make sense of the world every day, are highly skilled viewers of complex
narratives in real life.
© Thelma Good 29 May 2004. - Published on EdinburghGuide.com
More
info and reviews on the annual Bank of Scotland Children's International
Theatre Festival.
Theatre Editor, Thelma
Good's e-mail is thelma@edinburghguide.com
Although every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the
information presented in these pages, no responsibility can be accepted
for any errors or omissions.
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