Review: Beegu, Unicorn Theatre

Debbie Hannan’s colourful adaptation of the much-loved picture book Beegu by Alexis Deacon tells the tale of a friendly little alien who crash-lands on Earth and needs to get home. Small, yellow with two almost prehensile antennae and three eyes, she doesn’t look like us and doesn’t speak our language. We follow along as she tries to find friends who’ll help her get back to her mum, learning about the human world and both the large and small people in it as she does so.

This is a cute and quirky production from the start. A projected face showing the moon (think Teletubbies meets the Mighty Boosh) greets the audience as they arrive and the children enjoy calling to her to wake up, so they’re immediately part of the action. She’s joined by a sun who assists in relating the narrative, which is fun but perhaps removed from the picture book’s style of engagement through observation.

An energetic cast of four (Emma MacLennan, Lucy Harvard, Lawrence Hodgson-Mullings, Aryana Ramkhalawon) play a range of characters from adults to children, puppeteering numerous objects in the process. Crucially, puppet designer Jonathan Saville‘s starring alien is just delightful! Although substantially built to meet the demands of a highly active show, Beegu maintains an appealing softness, with added features that use lighting to spark magic; yet she still charmingly captures the aesthetic of the book. MacLennan, puppeteering her, is amazing and works incredibly hard to create a full range of emotions and movement. With the help of the team she effectively includes the antennae into the performance and then characterises beautifully using an entertainingly alien voice. Indeed, the use of language in the performance is really well considered, gently disclosing how something can be foreign yet still easily understandable. 

Other object manipulation is less effective. The cheeky puppies, while cute, are juggled like things rather than friends, meaning a plot development of sharing emotional understanding is lessened for Beegu and the audience. It also seems incongruous that, despite the adults being played by humans through the majority of the show, the teacher is then a giant puppet. This certainly suggests her intimidation, but stylising the person risks dehumanising perception of an adult failing to take responsibility for damaging actions. That aside, the themes of the book largely come through clearly. In particular, the moment where the teacher tries to make Beegu feel bad for being ‘other’ and denies her name boldly identifies common attitudes to refugees or non-binary people and movingly calls them out. 

There’s plenty of opportunity for the audience to engage, which is clearly much enjoyed, but it’s a fine balance as it at times disrupts belief in the onstage fiction. The cast stepping into the auditorium with microphones, inviting children to share names, is a nice idea, but in doing this the actors exit the magic and become externalised – more like game show hosts. It’s a shame because there’s otherwise a nice feeling of the storytelling protectively enfolding Beegu.

A few niggles aside, the production is really playful and fun, with the audience really enjoying the participation and bopping along to Deanna H Choi’s great soundtrack. Jean Chan’s set design is flexible and innovative, supported by some great integrated lighting design (Will Monks), which includes the toys the children play with, adding an appropriate touch of magic and a sense of the alien. The show leaves the audience excitedly embracing a warm message of hope for the future, with children being accepting of ‘otherness’ and enacting kindness where today’s adults may not.

Based on the book by: Alexis Deacon
Adapted and Directed by: Debbie Hannan
Design by: Jean Chan
Movement & Puppetry Direction by: Laura Cubitt
Composer & Sound Design by: Deanna H Choi
Lighting & AV Design by: Will Monks
Puppetry Design by: Jonathan Saville
Assistant Director: Amy Crighton

Beegu is aimed at ages 3-7 years and runs at the Unicorn Theatre until Sunday 4 May.