As we arrived, the theatre was already dark-ish, so we were mildly reprimanded for being a minute late and warned to keep quiet by a slightly inappropriately dour jobsworth usher. We behaved, and did as we were told, but, in reality, a little noise would barely have made an impact on the rather vociferous audience that ran the gamut of tenative, wary and loudly enthusiastic tiny tots, toddlers, their parents and grandparents...
The action opened with the Tall Stories ensemble 'asleep' on stage; loudly comical snoring ensued - disturbing the verdant setting. Soon the hunt was on for the witch and her broomstick. The cast of four were brilliantly versatile in their myriad roles; the story and lively performances kept most of the young audience enrapt. Although, throughout, several amusingly shrieky comments could be heard: "Don't like it, Want to go home NOW", for instance, was the repeated utterance from one two-year-old theatre novice, in the back row of the stalls. The cast, unperturbed and undistracted, continued energetically on their adventures through the wood.
The cat, the witch, the dog, the frog, the parrot and the dragon ensured there was rarely a dull moment, during the 60 minutes on-stage action. Admittedly, I often found it even more entertaining to watch the audience reactions. I'm sure many of us could put the final scene's snoring spell to good use, one night...
If you want to bring the book to life, for your favourite tot and treat them to a live performance, you'll find the ensemble across the UK, until January 2011.
image credit http://theatreandshowflyers.com
