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| Edinburgh : A&E : Festivals : Fringe reviews |
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 Childrens |
Rating Guide None = Unmissable 
= UnwatchablePage number refers to the Fringe programme The Golden Bird. (Page 10). Drams
A can of fizzy pop will ensure the kids don't fall asleep to the dangerously soothing
harp music.Venue Quaker Meeting House (Venue 40). Address 7 Victoria Terrace. Reviewer Ruth Clowes. This is one of five productions at this year's Festival by New York's Singing Harp theatre company, who perform stories adapted from traditional fairy tales and classic literature. The Golden Bird is a story by the Brothers Grimm, with all those familiar ingredients of sibling rivalry, greed and jealousy that children find it so easy to relate to Alyssa Reit tells the story with passion and skill, infusing it with meaning, and encouraging regular interaction from the audience. She also provides an atmospheric and unobtrusive accompaniment on the harp. Meanwhile, the narrative is acted out by Lisa Wenzel and Raegan Wood Sanders, who, without words but with the help of a few minimal props and masks, swap between a dozen or so characters with fluency and ease. This distinction between the aural storytelling element of the show and that of the purely visual theatre works extremely well. The two actresses successfully use body language to convey personality, expertly backed up by the harp, with different music used to identify the separate characters. The relaxed timbre of the show may not be sufficient to hold the attention of very young children, or those more used to a more frenetic pace of entertainment. However, for the majority of both young and old theatregoers, The Golden Bird provides a gentle 45 minutes of good old-fashioned storytelling at its best. © Ruth Clowes 23 August 2005 - Published on EdinburghGuide.com. Runs to 27 August (not 24, 26) at 10:00. Company - Singing Harp.
Cups of Bovril  Venue Greyfriars Kirk Yard. (Venue 99). Address Main Gates, Greyfriars Place. Reviewer Guy Woodward. The latest dramatic rendering of the bizarre cult of Greyfriars’ Bobby (still they leave him flowers) comes in the form of a promenade production. The audience assembles in Greyfriars Kirk Yard, before being led around nearby landmarks by the ever excitable Sergeant Scott of the Royal Engineers, Gordon Young, where successive episodes from the familiar tale are acted out by members of the Frantic Redhead Productions company. At times the actors fight to raise their voices above the roar of passing traffic, and the streets around Greyfriars Kirk with their pubs and gift shops have sadly lost something of their Victorian atmosphere, but the thrill of the chase ( the Sergeant encourages us constantly to be on the look out for the runaway Bobby) is a big part of the show’s clear appeal to children. The latter half of the production returns to the churchyard in which both Bobby and his master are buried, where the numerous windswept nineteenth century tombs make for a fine background to the show’s denoument. The mostly American cast do struggle with their Scottish accents, but it s unlikely that the young audience will care too much about such inaccuracies, such is the enthusiasm of the ensemble. James Yule’s rapport with the children as the Kirk Yard Keeper is particularly impressive.Touching though the story of Bobby undoubtedly is, one cannot help but feel that it is just a bit on the thin side, and at half an hour this has to be one of the shortest offerings at this year’s Fringe. But then again, half an hour is a long time when you’re six. ©Guy Woodward 4 August 2005 - Published on EdinburghGuide.com Runs August 8-12 at 11.00, August 6, 13 at 10.00 and 11.30. Company- Frantic Redhead Productions.
Hansel and Gretel. (Page 11). Drams
A couple of cans of fizzy pop to wash down the free gingerbread.Venue The White Tent (Venue 119). Address George Square Gardens. Reviewer Ruth Clowes. There are colourful acrobatics and fairytale magic aplenty in this bright and bubbly show, suitable for younger children, and feisty enough to keep older ones entertained too. The familiar story is skilfully told, with lots of energy and enthusiasm from this likeable duo, and plenty of opportunity for some gentle audience participation. We have all heard the story before, and Nicole and Martin play on this, building up the suspense and encouraging input from the young audience. The White Tent is a perfect venue for this kind of theatre, bright and informal, with the audience surrounding the stage, a warning though - comfort loving individuals should take a cushion or two to avoid numb-bum syndrome from the tiny wooden benches. Thankfully, there is plenty to take your mind off any seating related discomfort, with everything from choreography to costumes well thought through, and reflecting the uncomplicated, lively quality of the show as a whole. This is a production aiming to capture the essence of the fairytale genre, and as such there are no surprises in the narrative or the outcome - the good guys live happily ever after and the pesky witch gets roasted in her own oven. Barbecued old ladies aside then, this is storytelling of the strictly cute and cuddly, rose-tinted variety, a simple, jolly romp of a production, performed by two extremely talented performers. © Ruth Clowes 21 August 2005 - Published on EdinburghGuide.com. Dates 25 August only at 15:00 but there are two other shows from this company on other days. Company - Nicole & Martin. Company Website - www.nicole-et-martin.ch.
The Ignatius Trail. (Page 11). Drams None needed soft or otherwise. Venue Smirnoff Baby Belly (Venue 88). Address The Caves, Niddry Street South. Reviewer Lyndsey Turner. The Ignatius Trail is an absolute delight. The story of a band of bumbling public school pirates whose sea-dog credentials are dubious at best, this adventurous comedy drama for ages 8 and above is played with real energy and precision. The plot is as daft as can be. Ignatius Trail, a 17 year old pirate in training is forced to walk the plank after failing to meet the exacting standards of a fiendish pirate inspector. His attempts to get back to his friends aboard the sappily-named Yellow Flower form the basis of a narrative told through music, drama and tightly- choreographed physical action. The cast are talented and versatile, singing swaggering shanties with great gusto. And although the score is sometimes a little more Jeff Buckley than Blue Peter, all is forgiven as two of the principles engage in a pant-wettingly funny mock opera about fruit-pooing. Imaginative staging and a strong sense of irony mean that The Ignatius Trail is as fun for adults as is for children. And yet there is more to the show than a series of deftly-played comic set pieces. A story about friendship, The Ignatius Trail offers audiences a post-modern take on the pirate stories of old. We are taught that violence breeds violence, that honour will triumph and that mermaids aren't always beautiful. Winners of a Fringe First at the 2004 Festival, en masse theatre have struck a beautifully intelligent balance between homage and parody, violence and sentimentality, story and song. Now all you have to do is find a child to take you there. ©Lyndsey Turner 08 August 2005 - Published on EdinburghGuide.com Runs to 28 August at 11.30, not 16 or 23. Company - en masse theatre. Company Website - www.enmassetheatre.co.uk
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