Reviews & features: Kids, Issue 635
Andy and Mike's ... Big Box of Bananas
3 Aug 2009
CBeebies guy goes bonkers
To the nation’s children, presenters on CBeebies and CBBC are practically like gods, bringing great programmes, reading out birthday cards and generally acting the fool. Currently enjoying his place in the sun is Andy Day, a regular smiling face on the…
Lighter Than Air
3 Aug 2009
Balloon comic capers
As any parent of a six-year-old will confirm, kids love watching adults making total balloons of themselves. So, if you take one adult, arm him with a cupboard full of actual balloons, you’re probably on to a winner. ‘The bit where I walk my inflatable…
The Legend of Magnificent Moon & A Most Curious Quest
3 Aug 2009
Double helping of African tales
Having discovered two great stories ripe for adaptation, Mara Menzies of Toto Tales was torn between which show to deliver at this year’s Fringe. But help was at hand. ‘I was deliberating for weeks, when my 7-year-old niece piped up, “Why don’t you do…
Lost World
3 Aug 2009
Cinematic expedition
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s swashbuckling adventure, Lost World is brought to life by The Paper Cinema. Using angle-poise lamps, black-and-white ink illustrations and laptops, a DIY-film takes shape before your eyes. ‘The Paper Cinema is an illustrated…
Kids Hitlist
30 Jul 2009
Our pick of shows for the little festival goer to enjoy
Andy and Mike's Big Box of Bananas, Giraffes Can't Dance,Rapunzel and the Tower of Doom, Room on the Broom, Wind in the Willows, Patrick Monahan's Stories and Fables for Kids that like to sit at Tables!
Giraffes Can't Dance
30 Jul 2009
Uplifting story for little ones
With so many shows to choose from on the Fringe, parents have to be canny about what they take their young charges to. In recent years, the wise money has been spent on a ticket to see Blunderbus Theatre Company. Specialising in musical tales for…
Jumping Mouse
30 Jul 2009
A rodent on a quest
Like its previous Fringe successes – Funeral Games and No Obvious Trauma – Unpacked’s first show for children, Jumping Mouse, has a darkly comic feel. ‘Not that it will be frightening or unappealing,’ says the show’s director, Darren East, ‘but there’s…
Ice Cream Man and the Jelly Incident
30 Jul 2009
Fun with food for kids
Writer Jonny Berliner certainly knows how to create an attention-grabbing show title. After the huge success of Dude! Where’s my Teddy Bear? – which went from Edinburgh sell-out in 2003/4 to runs at festivals nationwide, including Glastonbury…
Room on the Broom
30 Jul 2009
If it’s innovative storytelling, great characterisation and witty dialogue you’re after, then Tall Stories theatre company should tick all your requisite boxes. The same could easily be said of children’s writer, Julia Donaldson – so it’s great to see…
