Presented by Blue Balloon Theatre Company as part of Online @The Space UK Fringe Festival on YouTube, this was a shadow puppet tale not for children, but for the grown-ups!
As the rather menancing voice of the female narrator states at the beginning, "It's time for your bedtime story". And using a style of puppetry which became hugely popular in the period between the wars, this shadow puppet tale of mankind's wanton neglect and disrespect for our planet began.
Written and directed by Amy Wakeman and Patricia Lane, the story tells of how Mother Nature exiled mankind to living underground in the darkness until we learned to respect and live in harmony with the rest of the life on the planet. The story seemed to start as an allegory for the coronavirus and our time in lockdown, and indeed there were certain parallels; however, this is not the case. It's a story of human greed, ignorance, and self-absorbtion; and if indeed any youngsters do watch this, then hopefully they will learn from it and not make the same mistakes that we and our ancestors have done and continue to do.
The story, and expecially the way it is depicted, with haunting original music by Chris J Mentz, is beautifully and expertly portrayed. Prescient and powerful. Excellent storytelling.
Reviewer - Alastair Zyggu
on - 30/8/20
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