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A colourful, musical adaptation of Joseph Coelho’s acclaimed picture book, with plenty of surprises and fun opportunities for audience participation.Summary
Rating
Good
It’s pouring with rain here in Limehouse, but safe and warm within the Half Moon Theatre a class of small children are enjoying a musical trip to the library in Luna Loves Library Days. Based on Children’s Laureate Joseph Coelho‘s acclaimed picture books, this is a colourful, musical production for ages 3+ and their families.
And family is very much at the core of the story. We meet Luna (played with bubbling exuberance by Yasmina Berraoui) as she’s packing for a day out, carefully supervised by her mum (Nicki Davy). Luna’s meeting her dad (Damien James), who no longer lives with them. She is looking forward to spending time with him as she’s quite anxious about the separation. The pair have lots of fun at the library reading, imagining new worlds and singing songs, and together they step away from the worries of their everyday lives. The library becomes a safe space to explore stories, thoughts and emotions, which is why it’s the perfect place for Luna to tell her dad about how it feels now her family has changed.
There are lots of important themes in the show, including transition, fear, bravery and diversity, all handled sensitively and with care for a young audience. Luna even learns about her Dad’s history and family culture from another country. The whole is a joyful celebration of reading, creativity and imagination, where the audience is encouraged to find the fun in not knowing; instead enjoying surprises and finding out.
The star of the show, however, is undoubtedly the music from David Gibbs (known for his celebrated work with Little Seeds), which brings a varied selection of songs and musical genres to the stage that enrich the narrative and give it emotional texture. There are so many styles, each of them tailored to the section of the story, and the cast of three talented actor/musicians work beautifully together to deliver them, singing and playing instruments. They also interact playfully with the audience, so that they can check library books in and out (just as in the original book), hunt for a missing troll and more. This audience had great fun, happily shouting out responses and playing along with the tale.
Nomi Everall’s delightful set design authentically complements Fiona Lumber’s original artwork from the books, and is not only colourful but full of surprises. The library desk hides a piano keyboard, whilst dinosaurs, fairy tale characters and bugs pop out elsewhere when they are least expected. The production even manages to replicate the ‘book within the book’ from the original, telling the tale of the princess, the mermaid and the troll king using lovely shadow puppetry, whilst Dad’s magic tricks bring the stage to life in an impressive transformation that made us all gasp!
Luna Loves Library Days is a perfect introduction to live musical theatre that will have little ones joyfully engaged and bopping along to the music. It also does a splendid job of dealing with difficult subjects whilst imagining futures that may be different but which still have love at their core.
Written by: Joseph Coelho
Composed and Musical Direction by: David Gibb
Directed by: Dermot Daly
Design by: Nomi Everall
Luna Loves Library Day plays at the Half Moon Theatre until Saturday 2 March, before continuing its tour of the UK.
Further information and booking can be found here.
