Review: The Elves and the Shoemaker, Little Angel Theatre

The Elves and the Shoemaker is a popular fairytale known to many, so in putting it on stage it’s more about how you do it than the story you tell. In this charming production from Grandly Strange Puppet Theatre, Marc Parrett makes it his own, casting a friendly spell over a young audience using silliness, slapstick, pigeons, puppetry and fancy footwear.

Mr Shooz is of course a shoemaker: there’s some nominative determinism there… We first meet him knitting away, which he really enjoys, and the children are invited to imagine what his creations could be made into. He lives above his shop where he hand crafts footwear. But the shop isn’t doing well – no-one comes in much and he’s struggling to make an income. Until one night everything mysteriously changes…

Parrett is a really likeable storyteller, putting the audience at ease immediately. There’s an element of improvisation as he ad-libs in direct conversation with the audience that complements his clowning and has the children giggling away. He’s very funny, bumping into things on the set, moving with delightfully exaggerated gestures, and the performance adds a whole extra level with non-verbal communication. Mr Shooz is played as a kindly figure without ever sermonising, which is a lovely example to set.

In addition to the storytelling and fun audience interaction the sound effects are also great, creating a space to imagine the settings – everything from a busy road to mystical twinkles when magic is in the air. Some fun analogue technology also sees elves dancing and sewing without human intervention. I did get to a point where I was wondering if this puppet show was going to have any puppets in it, aside from a friendly pigeon that is really more of a toy, but when the elves finally arrive in puppet form they are worth waiting for and beautifully made.

What Parrett does so well here is to remove the theatrical barriers between himself, the children watching and the character he portrays. The audience of children were quickly keen to respond to his interactions, frequently offering contributions that showed they were not only following along but were interested in the human stakes. When Mr Shooz tumbled from his bed half asleep one child actually asked out loud if he was alright – comfortable enough to do so. It was really sweet to realise that the generosity of his silly, slapstick performance was being paid back with genuine attachment and care.

Come the end of the show, we all get to dance and meet with the lovely elves. There’s a real feeling of collaboration and ownership in the audience: this story is now ours to take away and do with what we will, and we’ve been bestowed not only laughter but an agency to pass on kindness and to allow ourselves to do what makes us happy in life. It’s a generous gift from a silly shoemaker who nonetheless has real soul.

Produced by Grandly Strange Puppet Theatre

The Elves and the Shoemaker is aimed at ages 3-8 and runs at Little Angel Theatre until Monday 25 August as part of the Children’s Puppet Festival.