This beloved picture book, which has been gathering readers for the last three decades, is now a musical for children aged 3 – 7 years, courtesy of Kenny Wax Family Entertainment Ltd. I attended this morning’s performance at the Lowry in Salford with my Assistant Reviewer, aged five. He was a bit put out that he hadn’t brought his teddy with him, as many other children had, and even the ushers were wearing bear ears.
In this production that was both adapted and directed by Sally Cookson, the rhyming verse of the original text had been cleverly turned into a libretto for a full show, with barely any additional dialogue. It was set to Benji Bower’s score: an enjoyable and interesting piece of music in its own right, and not just for the children. Moving through a variety of themes, from the warm lazy dreaminess of a beautiful summer’s day to livelier, bluegrass-flavoured passages with lots of percussion and kazoo, there was plenty here to sharpen the concert-going ears of the future.
The original cast of characters had been stripped down to just four performers: Dad (Artie Godden), Boy (Benjamin Mowbray), Girl (Rebecca Newman), Dog (Benjamin Hills) and a lifesize mobile puppet as Baby Sister. They were a fairly interchangeable family, with Dad, Boy and Girl sporting large spectacles, and dressed in muted shades of blue, green and grey, and Baby Sister being a little more individual in a pink romper suit. Together they took their task of hunting for a bear in the English countryside very seriously, even as the first scary growls from the back of the theatre sent shivers through the delighted young audience.
Designer Katie Sykes managed to cope with the demands of the picture book quite well on the fairly sparse set. As the family progressed on their journey – and dealt with small audience members quoting passages from the book back at them – each of the stages were cleverly handled. The passage through the grass was created with large handheld overhangs. The river was initially laid out with wet blue towels, then buckets of water that the actors could step in – and finally, out came the water pistols and the actors were spraying the audience. Assistant Reviewer was awestruck at the power of theatre at that point.
Very sensibly, the actors put on their coveralls before dealing with the mud part of the journey, which they plastered pinned-up papers and each other with. The snowstorm was quite magical, with the actors spinning white ribbons into swirls while lighting effects played out across the entire audience.
Eventually the bear’s cave was reached, and the bear, looking rather groggy, shambled on in a fairly harmless and not-scary fashion, so even the smallest toddler was at peace. After some chasing about, the family ran back home, squeezed through the smallest front door possible, and hid under a large pink eiderdown with a collection of small cuddly teddies of their own. Everyone lived happily ever after, including the bear, and Assistant Reviewer had watched the entire performance with keen attention, as had the rest of the audience.
This is not a big belly-laugh show, or full of loud effects, and there’s no pop music or “Look behind you!” But it does involve the most magical aspects of children’s theatre, and does them well. Special mention to Benjamin Hills for his drumkit-playing Dog, who managed to get through every action sequence with maximum coolness and a calm “Woof.”
Reviewer - Thalia Terpsichore
on - 13/8/19
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