What a treat it was to be at 'The Bolds'. The Unicorn
Theatre sits within a five minute walk of London Bridge Station and is a
theatre dedicated to showcasing children’s productions. 'The Bolds' is the first
production to take place since the theatre has reopened.
This performance was the first evening performance to take
place in the run up to Christmas. If you are looking for a pantomime type of
show – this isn’t it, 'The Bolds' is so much better. It is hilariously funny with
one-liners for the children and for the adults. When I arrived there were a lot
of excited children waiting to go in to watch the show all wearing their animal
ears! After all we have lots of animals living in disguise everywhere.
'The Bolds' is based on the book written by Julian Clary, and
has been adapted for the stage with songs written by Julian Clary and Simon
Wallace. It is riotous fun as you would expect from the exuberant Mr Clary. He
has even lent his voice to introductions and at stages during the show. There
is a modern world undertone of being outsiders and trying to fit in and being
accepted within their new community. How many hyenas do we know living in
disguise in a suburban house in Teddington? Mr and Mrs Bold disguise themselves
and fly from Tanzania to London taking on their new personas. Remember these
are laughing hyenas so Mr Bold finds a job writing Christmas Cracker jokes in
order to pay the bills. David Ahmad (Mr Bold) was brilliant – one after another,
corny jokes from beginning to end. Instead of 'he’s behind you', we had the
repeating of the joke before Mr Bold gave us the punchline. The arrangement of
seats at the Unicorn meant that all children did not struggle to see the
performance from where they were sitting. Mrs Bold (Amanda Gordon) was the
linchpin that held the story and family together.
Mr and Mrs Bold, in time, where greeted by he arrival of
their twins Bobby and Betty, who had to keep the secret that they were hyenas by
tucking their tails in at school. It was at school that they met Minnie
(Charity Bedu-Addo) who found out about their tails and inevitably about their
real identity. All was happy in the
house apart from the angry Mr McNumpty (Sam Pay) who lived next door. At every
opportunity he was watching the Bolds and listening to what was going on. He
was like a bear with a sore head.
As the children were born in London they had never seen wild
animals so they went off on a trip to the safari park. Hyenas actually driving
a car! It was here they decided to embark on an adventure to free Tony, an
elderly hyena who was in line for being put to sleep. This echoes of our current
age concern about what value do the elderly have? Anyway, Tony (Jon Trenchard)
was the one who wins Mr McNumpty round and everyone lives happily ever after in
Teddington.
A great star performance by all the actors, a diverse
company that relates to the audience and filled with jokes, songs and dancing.
The children were interacting and joining in. As a teacher it was a pleasure to
see the utter enjoyment on their faces and I am sure for many of the children
this was their first time at the theatre. Well done Unicorn for tapping into
the audience and for working with schools to develop a love of acting, performing
and watching a live show.
Reviewer - Penny Curran
on - 24.11.21
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