Reviews & features: Kids
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The I Hate Children Children's Show
4 Aug 2012
Dude in pith helmet does close up magic to Muddy Waters soundtrack
I wish I had a louche American uncle who cracks open the ‘champagne’ (warm cava) at noon and does magic tricks in his skanky flat while the lodger strums a blues guitar. The I Hate Children Children’s Show is the next best thing: Paul Nathan is as…
The Ugly Duckling
4 Aug 2012
Kipper Tie Theatre's charming show proves beauty’s only skin deep
There are some valuable lessons to be learned in this simple yet effective show by Kipper Tie Theatre. Namely that being brave, imaginative and clever is a whole lot more important than being beautiful. Performers Bernie Byrnes and Sally Lofthouse…
Top 5 music shows for kids at Fringe 2012
29 Jul 2012
Featuring The BIG Sing-a-long, Flamenco for Kids, Sesame Street and Music Bugs
The BIG Sing-a-long! Back for their third Fringe running, the BIG Project’s Children’s Choir invite you to join in with chart hits and musical mash-ups. St Mark’s artSpace, 228 1155, 4 Aug, 2pm, £6 (£4–£5). Flamenco for Kids Warm up your hands…
Scamp Theatre bring Tiddler and Other Terrific Tales to life at Fringe 2012
27 Jul 2012
Stage version of hugely successful Julia Donaldson children's book
With so many shows to choose from at the Fringe, it’s always handy when a tried and tested company returns carrying a guarantee of quality. All those who saw Scamp Theatre’s production of Stick Man in 2010 will be pleased to know that the talented…
Tall Stories to perform Julia Donaldson's The Snail and the Whale at Fringe 2012
27 Jul 2012
Stage version of hugely successful children's book
Julia Donaldson’s picture books take pride of place on bedroom shelves around the world. But it’s not until somebody picks them up and reads them, that those clever rhymes come alive. Published in 2004, The Snail and the Whale has been one of…
Kipper Tie Theatre return to the Fringe 2012 with kids' show Our Island
27 Jul 2012
Singaporean theatre and slapstick in show tackling xenophobia and religious intolerance
Best known for winning over Fringe audiences with their poo-centred hit show, The Mole Who Knew It Was None Of His Business, Kipper Tie Theatre are back in Edinburgh with a far more serious subject matter. Set in a mystery location, Our Island…
Five Kids TV stars to catch at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2012
27 Jul 2012
Seen these folks on the box before? You must be a parent then
Dan Wright Fans of Big Cook, Little Cook might have difficulty recognising Mr Wright who played the latter given that he has shed his specs and is no longer three inches tall. Curiously, his Fringe show has a sort-of childlike theme given that it’s…
Children's puppetry show Luminous Tales at 2012 Edinburgh Fringe
25 Jul 2012
Zannie Fraser's Ripstop Theatre perform show about night-time for ages 4 and above
Zannie Fraser’s shadow puppetry has toured all over the world, but 2012 marks her Edinburgh Fringe debut in the guise of Ripstop Theatre, her own company. Fraser’s new show, Luminous Tales, is a collection of stories about night-time for audiences aged…
Fringe children's puppet shows Circus in Hand and Time For Fun
23 Jul 2012
Russian puppeteers who have it all in hand
St Petersburg’s Hand Made Theatre make exactly that: theatre with their hands. The company’s actors all trained in puppetry at Russia’s State Theatre Arts Academy, and are about to make their Edinburgh Fringe debut. They bring with them two shows: Time…
Sesame Street Live - Elmo Makes Music at 2012 Edinburgh Fringe
23 Jul 2012
TV stars make muppet melodies
He has dueted with pop siren Katy Perry and upstaged opera don Andrea Bocelli. Now huggable Sesame Street muppet Elmo is bringing his loveable musical prowess, and furry companions, to the Edinburgh Fringe. ‘This is a real feel good, fast paced, fun…
CBeebies comedy duo Andy and Mike talk about their Tick Tock Time Machine
23 Jul 2012
Comedy duo swap CBeebies for time travel
‘If you mix Back to the Future with The Mighty Boosh and Goonies, you get a glimpse of where we wanted to go,’ says CBeebies presenter Andy Day, co-star of Andy and Mike’s Tick Tock Time Machine. The follow-up to 2009’s Box of Bananas, this new show was…
The Curious Scrapbook of Josephine Bean puts scrapbook in a laboratory
23 Jul 2012
New Edinburgh Fringe show from children’s theatre innovator Shona Reppe
Shona Reppe hasn’t performed at the Edinburgh Fringe since Cinderella in 2002. But in the meantime, she’s steadily established herself as one of Scotland’s most innovative and engaging purveyors of children’s theatre. ‘I wanted to set a show around an…
Children's theatre at the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe for a fiver
18 Jul 2012
2012 Edinburgh Festival offers a host of great-value kids show previews
Various venues, Edinburgh, 1–3 Aug Each year, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe has more and more shows to tempt families. From theatre pieces to circus shows, you could easily spend three weeks (and a month’s salary) straddling the good-taste line…
Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2012: Kids highlights
11 Jul 2012
CBeebies' Andy Day, Tall Stories, Sesame Street Live and more
Andy & Mike’s... Tick Tock Time Machine. Andy and Mike’s 2011 Fringe show, Big Box of Bananas, was a genuinely funny affair that entertained both wee ones and their adult companions. So we’ll expect great things from the CBeebies presenter’s return.
Movin' Melvin Brown: Just Singing and Dancing ... You Can Do It!
1 Sep 2011
Slick foot-stomping but too much audience on show
Movin’ Melvin Brown certainly got his stage name right. There’s no denying the Texan man can move. And move he does, sometimes so fast his gold shoed feet go into a little fuzzy cloud of slick rhythm and frantic toe-tapping. The best thing by far…
Interview: Ian Billings
24 Aug 2011
Children’s TV writer turned stand-up
What inspired you to do stand-up comedy for kids? The money! I earned £1 last year and I’m still wondering where to invest it. Also the sheer joy of being surrounded by gigglesome, joyous hoots of delight at something I’ve invented. What’s the most…
Revolting Rhymes
22 Aug 2011
Lively rendition of Roald Dahl tales
The two performers at the helm of this manic hour may be young (one of them had just received their A Level results the day I saw them) but already they’ve honed considerable performance skills. Not only that, they’ve also amassed a considerable…
The Fall Children
22 Aug 2011
Weak storyline made up for by macabre, colourful underworld
This sinister fairytale turns a place that young children fear to tread – under the bed - into a delightfully macabre underworld. A little girl awakes to find that she and her stuffed toy Caruso have fallen into this dark chasm. With the help of a…
Hurry Up and Wait
22 Aug 2011
Clown show that fails to live up to potential
With a parade due any minute, two friends are forced to wait patiently for its arrival. Their stools sit either side of a giant clock – an ever-present reminder that time is passing just too slowly. In a bid to speed it up, these colourful characters…
The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik
19 Aug 2011
Poignantly Pixar-esque underwater adventure
Alvin Sputnik’s poster comparison to Wall-E is an apt one, although other Pixar parallels would fit equally well. As in Finding Nemo, this underwater world is vast and filled with danger. As in Up, there are moments of heartbreaking grief. And like…
Interview: Movin’ Melvin Brown
17 Aug 2011
Infectiously enthusiastic performer tells us about his love of dance
What is your favourite dance style and why? Freestyle, which combines a lot of dance styles together like Michael Jackson did. I am lucky enough to have seen the origins of a lot of dances, so I understand the basis of most of them. Dance is the…
Darren Shan, Barry Hutchison and Alexander Gordon Smith talk horror
16 Aug 2011
Creating terrifying tales for teenage readers at the EIBF
As far as groundings in the horror business go, young adult writer Barry Hutchison knew exactly what fear was from an early age. ‘I lived in a perpetual state of terror when I was a kid,’ says the Fort William-based creator of the Invisible Fiends…
Mirazozo
15 Aug 2011
Inflatable world of fun and relaxation
‘Have we been in here yet?’ said the girl next to me to her friend. It’s an easy mistake to make, the rooms and corridors of Mirazozo are all similar but different and, like a maze, it’s hard to know where you’ve been and where you’re going. This…
Bubblewrap and Boxes
15 Aug 2011
Mayhem in the mail room
Australian company Asking For Trouble has much in its favour in Bubblewrap and Boxes. A set comprised of large, medium and small cardboard boxes, ripe for manoeuvre and exploration; two performers highly skilled in clowning and acrobatics; and a…
Patrick Monahan: Stories And Fairytales Of Travels For Kids Who Dance Like Camels
15 Aug 2011
Comic silliness with a disco beat
In an ideal world, Patrick Monahan would be available every weekend to babysit my children. I doubt they’d get much sleep, but there would certainly be no tears. This amiable comedian, who branched out a few years ago into entertaining younger audience…
