Described as a ‘truly theatrical feast’, 'Room On The Broom', based on the best selling children’s novel by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, is an eclectic and crazy “mish mash” of singing, dancing. Being a children’s production, the story involves a narrator telling the tale of a witch and her cat, whilst also incorporating catchy folk songs, innovative puppetry and, arguably excessive amounts of audience participation. However, the hyperbolic melodrama is fitting to Tall Stories’ pantomime styled show.
The company of 4 included a Witch, a cat, and 2 male actors multi-roling as narrators and the various different animals and ‘creatures’ that join the broom. Each creature had its own stylised performance, my personal favourite being the Blues-singing South American frog! This particular character was humorous and imaginative: combined with the use of puppetry they created a fresh and exciting performance. And, despite being considerably older than the age group targeted, I actually enjoyed myself!
The costumes used in the production were simplistic yet highly effective. The cat winning the coolest costume with fur paws, a fur belly, two orange space buns and brown converse trainers. The witch was also rather trendy, sporting a shiny pair of Dr. Martens which I was quite jealous of. This element added to the mismatched array already created and brought about a contemporary atmosphere. This is important, particularly with pantomime-style plays, in order to avoid falling into a cell of repeated jokes and boring, lazy scripts.
The use of soundscape and technology in the play was again minimalistic but also insightful and lifted the characters off the stage and up into the sky. Particularly, the focused spotlight on the broom surrounded by blackout brought it, and the characters, up and away and, with their perfectly choreographed movement sequences, every child watching the stage believed they were flying. Following on, the use of physical theatre was polished and the actors moved with rapid pace revealing the adventure.
The story was told through rhyming couplets and song, two fundamental components of children’s theatre. The narration had rhythm and electricity, captivating the audience whilst progressing the action. The songs were catchy and easy to sing-a-long to, bringing in their audience, as many of the children joined in. Every child had a smile on their face, and most adults too! Children’s theatre really doesn’t come much better than this.
Reviewer – Grace McNicholas
on - 19/2/18
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