CHILDREN’S THEATRE MAGAZINE – REVIEW: Tiddler and Other Terrific Tales keeps a full house engrossed (but did the monkey over shadow Tiddler?)

Tiddler and Other Terrific Tales. Bristol Old Vic. Age 3+

There was an atmosphere of babbling tiny voices (coupled with the calming tones of parents trying to dampen down a growing sense of excitement) as the audience awaited the arrival of the cast of Tiddler and Other Terrific Tales.

The Bristol Old Vic’s main house was near to capacity as Maryam Grace, Alex Tosh and Anna Larkin entered wearing brimmed hats, colourful jackets and carrying an assortment of props. With two step ladders joined by a plank, various boxes and a table the cast brought to life Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s Tiddler and Other Terrific Tales. Using a mixture of song, simple dialogue, mime, choreographed movement and physical theatre the trio told the story of Tiddler the fish who was always late the Monkey who had lost his mummy, The Smartest Giant in Town and A Squash and a Squeeze. For those expecting the stories to centre on Tiddler there may have been disappointment as it was the monkey whose story was most predominant but perhaps that is a small point in a show that had so much content and action.

The Freckle production of Scamp Theatre’s drama was driven by musical director Brian Hargreaves and Georgia Green with Chris Pirie as puppetry and associate director. His use of everyday objects such as gloves and dusters must have kept costs down but also worked as a joke which the audience were in on from the first appearance of the monkey portrayed by some rope.

There was some fidgeting in the ranks of the pre-school audience although this seemed to more to do with the fascination of the tip up seats. And there’s a story in itself as pre-school and primary school children find the experience of a visit to the theatre in the seating, the steps, the toilets and watching other children almost as important as the drama.

Inventive, funny and at times purely silly the stories engaged the audience in a setting that could have been too large for this small scale production but with microphones to help projection and huge energy the hour long show kept the concentration of hundreds of tiddlers (and their parents).

Harry Mottram

The show continues until February 18th before a tour of numerous theatres in the UK before ending in June at Bury St Edmunds at the Theatre Royal.

For more details: www.bristololdvic.org.uk while for dates and venues visit http://freckleproductions.co.uk/shows/tiddler-and-other-terrific-tales/tour-dates

For more Children’s Theatre visit https://childrenstheatrereviews.com and http://www.harrymottram.co.uk