Theatre / Family Theatre
Review: Vixen, The Weston Studio, Bristol Old Vic – ‘Dynamic and full of heart’
Bristol’s Travelling Light are now approaching four decades as producers of inspirational and thought-provoking theatre aimed at young people.
Their latest show Vixen was written by Matt Grinter, and is performed by Alice Lamb as 11-year old Saffi, a girl who finds herself, by degrees, turning into a fox.
Saffi finds herself at a point in her young life when she is old enough to worry, but not old enough to be listened to. She has experienced trauma very close to home, living in a house her mother has left, and looked after by a father she struggles to connect with. Ultimately, Vixen is searching for a place where she can belong.
Alice Lamb as Saffi in Vixen – photo: Camilla Adams
On a daily solo walk with her dog Brutus – imaginatively visualised with a rucksack and a microphone – she watches the characters of her local neighbourhood with the fascination of an outsider looking in.
Making full use of Katie Sykes’ climbing frame set, she leaps and bounds and twirls around in a wonderfully physical and infectiously warm performance.
And it is then that she ventures into unknown territory, and her eyes become open to new possibilities of living when she starts to observe the animal behaviours of a vixen and her cubs.
Saffi is not yet fully possessed of the resilience that adulthood will bring, but she reflects that though small, she isn’t as small as people think – “and I am fierce”.
Vixen – photo: Camilla Adams
This is a play that doesn’t shy away from the hugeness of emotion that children can find themselves wading through: the emotional distance between Saffi and her parents; the growing pleasure in the everyday; the overwhelming need to run with a pack.
And, like the fox, there is a heightening of senses that we, as an audience, experience, sharpened further through the very effective overlaying of music (Alex Vann) and immersive lighting effects (Matt Graham) within the show.
Ultimately, although she takes huge inspiration from the foxes, Saffi discovers that she needn’t run away with them after all; her own pack is much closer to home.
Recommended for age 7+, this is an accessible, thought-provoking and warm-hearted show, brilliantly performed by Lamb. Its 45 minute runtime is perfectly judged for younger audience members, who were wrapt throughout.
Vixen is at The Weston Studio, Bristol Old Vic on April 13-16, times vary. Tickets are available at www.bristololdvic.org.uk.
Main photo: Camilla Adams
Read more: Review: Anansi’s Big Big Adventure, Weston Studio, Bristol Old Vic
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