Clockheart Boy

Mechanical inventions explore life and death

This article is from 2008.

It may not seem the ideal topic to build a family show around, but grief regularly pops its head up in children’s film and theatre. As Nicola Cutcher, co-director of Clockheart Boy says, ‘even The Lion King is about death’.

Cutcher and her company, Dumbshow, are returning to the Fringe after a triumphant run last year with To The End of the World. This time they’re back with what Cutcher terms ‘a macabre fairytale – a bit Tim Burton-like.’

Aimed at children, families and anybody with an interest in physical theatre, the show centres on a grieving professor who has lost his daughter. Down in the basement, a chorus of wacky inventions with super powers are his only companions, until a boy without a heart washes up on the shore in need of help.

‘It’s a sad show in that it’s about grief but there’s a lot of joy in it,’ says Cutcher. ‘Because it’s also about enjoying life to the fullest.’

C, 0845 2601212, Until 16 Aug, 3.15pm, £7.50–£9.50 (£5.50–£8.50).