Riotous entertainment that has the audience screaming with excitement, slightly to the detriment of the main theme.Rating
Good
Get your excitement boots on and earplugs in, because Violette is in town! Cheeky Zippy Violette is a high energy production from Belgian theatre makers Compagnie Théâtre des Quatre Mains. It’s an imaginative, interactive hour that makes the audience a dynamic part of the story and is hugely entertaining.
At the centre of the show is Violette, played by the extraordinary Gwladys Lefeuvre. This is a kickass little girl, tooled up with a water pistol and not afraid to use it, who meets us in the attic where she’s looking through her Grandpa’s things. We’re told he has gone to the moon on a rocketship, but it’s clear as she describes what happened when he left that there has been a funeral. Violette asks the audience to help her to write him a letter, but the price of a stamp to the moon is proving prohibitively expensive, so she tries to get £1,000 from members of the audience who are keen, yet ultimately unable, to help.
This is a fabulous bit of entertainment and enormous fun for the audience. It’s like they have discovered a new – if bossy and controlling – friend: Lefeuvre interacts with them brilliantly and, of course, cheekily. From showing her jar of space willies (I know, right? Watch the show to find out more) to stealing someone’s coat, to using some naughty words while her mum’s not around, there’s loads of disruptive, anarchic fun to be had and this audience loved it, shouting out and squealing with joy. The imaginative play used to tell the tale is often lovely, in particular some delightful shadow work behind a huge sheet that also doubles as a pirate ship’s sail, alongside the shifting between ideas of reality and fiction as Violette struggles to make sense of events.
Delicately woven throughout the chaos is a subtle exploration of death, including talking about her Grandad’s absence and managing to kill an imaginary octopus friend. It’s all very carefully placed as it deals with sensitive themes through the eyes of a child, but the message is ultimately obscured by the riotous chaos that Violette’s antics wreak. A final scene revealing why she’s been sent for a timeout in the attic could be all but lost with a massively overexcited audience.
That said, Cheeky Zippy Violette is a fabulously entertaining show, performed magnificently by a talented actor. Whether or not the underlying theme hits home, it’s nonetheless a surefire hit for a fun theatre trip.
Written by Maximilien Delmelle and Gwladys Lefeuvre
Performed by Gwladys Lefeuvre
Directed by Maximilien Delmelle
Set design by Gaël Lefeuvre
Lighting design by Jonathan Vincke and Benjamin Van Thiel
Stage management by Jonathan Vincke
Original music by Valentin Wilbaux
Musicians: Valentin Wilbaux (piano, keyboards, percussion), Marcel Degotte (trumpet), Lewis Delsaux (drums, percussion), Fred Wilbaux (double bass), Sébastien Lheureux (bass)
Sound mixing by Sébastien Lheureux
A co-production of La Datcha/Théâtre des Quatre Mains
Cheeky Zippy Violette is aimed at ages 5-10 years and plays at the Scottish Storytelling Centre until Sunday 7 June as part of the Edinburgh International Children’s Festival.
