Choreography: Paul Jenden
Music: Jan Bolton
Mclary Theatre Productions
Maidment Theatre
Review: Gilbert Wong
As the theatre lights dimmed, the toddler climbed up on to my lap. She snuggled there, not sure of what was about to happen, seeking the haven of touch until she had made her mind up about what we were about to see.
On stage, four dark figures, with visceral-pink head-gear bobbed and weaved to eerie music. It was a little disturbing and in the darkness the occasional sound of tears could be heard. Then vocalist Kirstie O'Sullivan, resplendent in a gold gown, appeared and began to sing. For the toddler and her peers in a reasonably full house, all became right, as O'Sullivan crooned about the ballyhoo bird, giving more than a nod to the musical South Pacific.
Lynley Dodd's tale can hardly be called that - it's more a counting book for preschoolers who love the language of fanciful alliteration, from the Tittle tattle birds to their cousins the fussy Fissicks right on up to the grouchy Grudges. The performance reveals how inventive Paul Jenden and his cast of dancers and Jan Bolton, who scored the production, must be to wring a narrative from the source material.
O'Sullivan, a sort of sexy fairy, high-kicks and vamps her way through the landscape, encountering increasing numbers of gaudy avians who swoop and careen about the stage to Bolton's constantly refreshing rhythms and pastiches culled from well-known tunes.
Jenden's great trump card is the extravagance of his costumes - these birds fly in the imaginations of children and sport the cerises, fluorescent limes and electric blues of fantasy. Clever use of puppetry techniques sees the birds' clawed feet prance and pirouette, their beaks nod and grin.
Underneath the gaudiness, the dancers, led by Paula Steeds and Louis Solino, are working hard, their faces invisible behind black masks, their limbs subservient to the movement of imaginary avians whom they inhabit with verve and grace.
The show is long enough to make a good outing, short enough not to strain small attention spans.
As we left, the toddler looked up: "Again?"
<i>Theatre:</i> The Nickle Nackle Tree
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