Shorlisted for the Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award 2007
Michael Morpurgo's brand new retellings of Aesop's Fables include The Hare And The Tortoise, The Boy Who Cried Wolf and The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg.
Three actors and a one-man-band combine with a host of colourful characters to magically recreate the most enchanting stories ever told. Fantastic family entertainment.
British Theatre Guide
Aesop's Fables
by Michael Morpurgo
Scamp and Bristol Old Vic
Assembly @ George St
* * * * *
The show opens as the cast—two actors and a musician—arrive on a small platform that floats slowly across the stage to the sound of the accordion. With the aid of lots of props and bits of costume, the trio tells a number of famous fables including The Miller's Son and the Donkey', 'The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg', 'The Traveller and the Bear', The Wind and the Sun' and 'The Hare and the Tortoise', with 'The Wolf and the Shepherd's Son' told in instalments between the others.
This is a brilliantly imaginative piece of theatre, performed superbly by Chris Bianchi and Tom Wainwright with musician and composer Benji Bower. The wonderful music is a constant backdrop to the melodic, rhythmic speech as well as turning into full songs at some points. The sun sings a real crooner's song, and the last time that the boy cries "wolf", he does it in the form of a great jazz song. There is also a song that opens and closes the show that weaves together the morals of all of the tales as its lyric.
There are some magical transformations, such as the paper carrier bag that becomes the goose, and the wheelbarrow that slowly becomes a donkey with the aid of a few vocal sound effects, or even the tortoise, that gradually becomes clear as Wainwright dons a green backpack and round glasses, then unwraps his sandwiches from a handkerchief with an embroidered 'T' in the corner. The whole thing evolves quite slowly without rushing the changes between the stories and not at the frantic pace that many performers feel is necessary for a children's show, but it never for a moment becomes even remotely dull.
Although it is billed as a children's show and there were plenty of children in the audience, this show never talks down to its audience and as a result is a wonderful piece of theatre for children or for adults.
David Chadderton
'Side-splitting, appeals as much to adults as their offspring' The Stage
‘Charmed by these fabulous fables. A real hit' Daily Mail ****
Booking |
Now |
Availability |
Spring 2008 |
Company |
3 Cast, 1 Crew |
Performances |
Single nights to full weeks |
amptheatre.com
