Theatre / Children's Theatre
Review: Tiddler, Bristol Old Vic
For a certain generation, the words of Julia Donaldson and illustrations of Axel Scheffler are a key part of childhood – with The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom and Stick Man much-loved bedtime reading.
Donaldson used to be a songwriter and the rhythm of her stories lend themselves perfectly to the stage, where four of her tales are currently being performed to the youngest of audiences at the Bristol Old Vic.
Tiddler weaves four books – Tiddler, Monkey Puzzle, The Smartest Giant in Town and A Squash and a Squeeze – into one hour-long show performed by three actors who travel from the jungle, to a farm to the bottom of the sea.
As many no doubt do when tucked up in bed after their baths, the little audience members help finish the actors’ words as their favourite stories are brought to life in front of their wide eyes, with Scheffler’s drawings most vividly recreated as a school of colourful fish.
Some lines were put to the words of songs accompanied by the actors on a variety of instruments, but a few that were spoken were scarcely audible under the music.
“Daddy, is that a real elephant?” one tiddler asked as a ventilation duct doubled as an elephant’s trunk.
Hats, ropes, handbags and feather dusters become parrots, frogs, snakes and monkeys – with the four disparate stories held together by one young monkey’s search for his mother.
It’s a classic scenario also employed in the likes of A Bit Lost by Chris Haughton and many of the That’s Not My… series of books, and one that works so well on stage during Tiddler with the audience joining in the hunt with gusto.
“My favourite part was the kind giant,” one three-year-old girl told her mummy an hour after the show finished after jumping through muddy puddles on her way back home.
Seeing stories come to life in front of her eyes was a genuinely life-enhancing experience for her. This is the true magic of the theatre.
Tiddler is on at Bristol Old Vic until February 18. For more information and to book tickets, visit www.bristololdvic.org.uk/whats-on/tiddler-and-other-terrific-tales
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