Review: Your Toys, Unicorn Theatre

Your Toys by the innovative, puppetry-focused Slot Machine Theatre, is a characteristically bold and quirky piece of original theatre for children aged 5–9.

You know you’re in for something a little different from the moment you enter the cardboard flatpack-and-boxes performance space, beautifully designed by Nicola Blackwell, serenaded by a multi-instrumentalist (Nick Tigg). Looping sound, sitting behind a drum kit, and casually strumming a ukulele, he busks his way through the likes of Hot Chocolate’s You Sexy Thing or Prince’s Kiss in a deliberately rough, almost offhand style. But don’t be misled – this is a gentle decoy. As the show unfolds, music and sound design become central to what makes Your Toys such a polished, witty and cleverly crafted piece.

This four-hander uses, as the title suggests, the audience’s own toys as its protagonists. As we take our seats, we’re invited to place these items into a large cardboard box, ready to be brought to life. On this occasion, my companion’s blue rabbit – much to her glee – actually takes centre stage alongside an awkward-looking monkey as our two principle players, both joined throughout in succession by a wonderfully eclectic cast of around sixty other contributions: snakes, owls, dolls, a plastic dinosaur, a bright pink unicorn, a London bus, even a hi-vis vest and a sparkly backpack. Anything goes, clearly. 

What follows is a wonderfully imaginative journey. Boxes, lids and square tubes of all shapes and sizes transform into landscapes, birds and animals that carry our toy companions across rough seas, shipwreck them on a mysterious island, and lead them into a series of perilous adventures. We move through caves and rainforests, narrowly avoid being crushed under the feet of elephants, and eventually find ourselves atop a towering cliff – which turns out to be an enormous, slumbering monster with a taste for panicky, fretful toys.

All of this is made entirely believable through the proficient, playful puppetry of the cast – Nisha Anil, Louis Bisson, Nicola Blackwell and Lucy Clarke – supported by carefully judged and crisply delivered text and, in Clarke’s case, elegant, skilful singing that moves effortlessly from swing to calypso to ballad.

Remarkably, this is a show that is now over ten years old, yet it still feels fresh and relevant. Developed with children, its roots in imaginative play are clear. This is reinforced through projections – originally drawn by children – that shift and move across the cardboard world. Their simplicity is part of the magic, offering a heartfelt nod to how children see and shape their own stories.

At its core, the piece feels like a playground or classroom brought to life: a space where friendships are formed, fears are explored and challenges are faced together. Themes of rejection, resilience and collaboration are gently woven throughout.

This is most joyfully realised when the toys, having now been swallowed by the monster, use a stash of forbidden ‘magic berries’ – hidden away despite warnings they would make them dance with crazy abandon, then be sick and then like Sleeping Beauty, fall asleep for a very long time  to turn –the tables. The result, to the absolute delight of the audience, is a gloriously silly payoff as the monster promptly vomits everyone back out across the stage. It’s classic, perfectly timed humour.

A unique and inventive piece of theatre that taps directly into the imagination of its audience, Your Toys is both playful and deeply satisfying, and leaves you with a very real smile on your face.

Writers: Nick Tigg, Fiona Creese & Nicola Blackwell in collaboration with the original company Isabel Sharman, Matthew Coulton and Nadia Morgan
Co-Director: Fiona Creese
Music/Live Sound on Stage/Co-Director: Nick Tigg
Designer: Nicola Blackwell

Your Toys continues its run at Unicorn Theatre until Sunday 12 April.