Theatre / Reviews
Review: Four Seasons, The Weston Studio, Bristol Old Vic – ‘An endearing, warm-hearted show, perfectly pitched for young families’
In Four Seasons, Little Bulb have created a show that is perfectly pitched for young audiences and their families.
The concept is beautifully simple. Hanora Kamen, Vic Llewyellyn and Amy Harris guide us amiably through the natural year, underpinned largely by the majesty of Vivaldi’s famous concertos, with a smattering of Cliff Richard’s Summer Holiday and other seasonally resonant pop classics along the way.
Framed by Jamie Misselbrook’s gorgeous trees, Kirsty Harris’ clever design allows for a constant cycle of transformation to occur throughout the performance.
Opening in Winter, the actors move through the seasons aided by a vast selection of ingeniously reworked props. Rubber gloves, dusters, colanders, flower pots and hats are transformed into all manner of animals and plants, often at the mercy of the fan or hairdryer-assisted weather.
There is a lovely relaxed dynamic established right from the outset, just the right amount of audience interaction, and a pervading sense of warmth and wonder at the natural world.
An elegiac section is sensitively pitched to be understood by the adults without upsetting the littlest onlookers, and neatly dovetails into a beautifully festive ending, and of course, snow.
I was attending on one of a series of Friday ‘pyjama nights’, when the “theatrical love letter to nature” which the company is striving for clearly captured the hearts of the cosy-clad children – all watching on, enchanted.
Four Seasons is at The Weston Studio, Bristol Old Vic from December 1-January 7 2024; times vary. Tickets are available at www.bristololdvic.org.uk.
All photos: Paul Blakemore
Read more: Review: Belle and Sebastien, The Weston Studio, Bristol Old Vic – ‘Utterly gorgeous’
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