A slick and silly slapstick story that fills an empty house with laughter.Summary
Rating
Good
Need something to keep the kids busy for an hour? Fancy some fun puppetry, slapstick comedy and silly singing? Well the solution is easy peasy with the Little Angel Theatre‘s joyful adaptation of Julia Donaldson‘s family-favourite picture book, A Squash and a Squeeze.
You might know this tale, in which a little old lady finds her house entirely too small so she entails the help of a wise old man to solve her problem. Strangely, he encourages her to fill her home with animals, claiming all will ultimately be revealed!
From the moment the audience settles into their seats all rules are off and the delightful, organised chaos begins. Gilbert Taylor is wonderful as the wise old man, getting right in amongst the crowd to hand out business cards from Easy Peasy Solutions. It’s great fun to see the excited young audience joining in, chatting along and squashing out of the way as he squeezes across the rows.
The performances from the team of three are terrific all round as they sing, puppeteer and perform slapstick sequences that have the little ones giggling from start to finish. Mark Esaias as the charming narrator is particularly adept at bringing puppets to life, sometimes juggling several at one time. Ruth Calkin as the distraught little old lady beautifully captures the kids’ attention with her knowing looks, and there’s plenty of upbeat interaction interspersed throughout. There’s also a generous distribution of bright, energetic songs from Barb Jungr, delivered with exuberance.
Kate Bunce’s set design is impressively flexible. The house opens up or spins around, shifting the action along to help to keep the momentum flowing. Meanwhile, cleverly designed puppets by Maia Kirkman Richards interestingly integrate garden and household objects: there’s a ball of wool for the body of the cat and a wheelbarrow makes up most of the goat. They also capture the lovely aesthetic of the original text with ease.
It does feels a little like the seven page book is stretched to the max to fill out this one hour show, but the dynamic cast never lose energy, squeezing every last drop of entertainment from the script
Come the end of the performance the animals have returned to their usual places. The house may be empty of creatures but the theatre is certainly full of laughter, with smiling children jumping at the opportunity to join in with a dance at the end. And that’s surely an hour well spent!
Based on the original book by: Julia Donaldson, with illustration by Axel Scheffler
Adapted by: Barb Jungr and Samantha Lane
Directed by: Samantha Lane
Music & Lyrics by: Barb Jungr
Puppets designed and made by: Maia Kirkman Richards
Set and Costume Design by: Kate Bunce
Lighting Design by: Sherry Coenen
A Squash and a Squeeze is aimed at ages 3-8 and runs at Little Angel Studios until Friday 9 May.
