Reviews & features: Kids
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Cloud Man
14 Aug 2011
Delightful puppet show with its head in the clouds
Puppet maker/performer Ailie Cohen has been delighting young folk and their grown-ups for many a Fringe with her original stories and fairy-tale adaptations. Cloud Man is no exception, a deceptively simple story that will melt even the flintiest of…
Snow Play
14 Aug 2011
Fun and frolics in the snow
It may have caused the grown-ups a few problems earlier this year, but for children, snow is never a burden. Faced with falling flakes and a snowy white landscape, traffic infrastructure is far from their mind. Scottish/Italian company, Lyngo Theatre…
Tim and Light
12 Aug 2011
An ode to friendship for all ages
Hal Chambers has created a mesmerising original tale in Tim and Light. Under his direction, the story comes to life through a group of talented actors and puppeteers, who manipulate a range of household items to assemble a charming landscape with more…
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase
11 Aug 2011
Children’s adaptation that’s hard to follow
Joan Aiken’s 1963 novel gets an adaptation that is admirable in its aim to offer children something with a grown-up, unpatronising feel, but falls well short of the mark in its execution. The story is one of high adventure: feisty young Bonnie and her…
Pasta! Macaroni Puppet's Show
11 Aug 2011
Children's show where pasta comes to life
Given that nursery schools the world over have already realised the potential of dried pasta shapes to entertain small children, this lovely little show by Italian puppeteers Placedumarche seems to be the next logical step in pasta-based play. The…
The Incredible Book Eating Boy
11 Aug 2011
Quirky five-minute adaptation of much-loved children’s book
This five-minute adaptation of Oliver Jeffers’ 2006 children’s book is one of the quirkiest and most delightful offerings at this year’s Fringe, no matter what your age. The performance itself takes place in the Black Box, Bootworks Theatre’s…
Interview: Toby Mitchell of children's theatre company Tall Stories
10 Aug 2011
Co-founder on show Brilliant Books for Kids at Edinburgh Fringe
What was your favourite story book as a child? I had many favourites, but there are two that stick out: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster is like a modern-day Alice in Wonderland, full of clever word-play and ways of seeing the world in entirely…
Interactive children's shows at Edinburgh Fringe 2011
8 Aug 2011
Our tips on the best shows to get children up and moving
The Enormous Turnip, Magic Porridge Pot, Peter Pan on Dinosaur Island, Robinson Crusoe the Lost Jedi Knight Spotlites Theatre Productions don’t just dabble in interactive theatre, it’s their raison d’être. ‘Little ’uns come onstage!’ is the…
Comedy Club 4 Kids
8 Aug 2011
Heckle-happy crowd nearly stump the pros
It’s perceived wisdom that kids are a tough crowd. No matter how naturally witty you are, getting a child to laugh is often a triumph of hard-nosed perseverance. But who knew that nippers could deliver the most savage of heckles, here displaying the…
The Just So Stories
8 Aug 2011
Colourful and engaging adaptation of Kipling’s well known tales
There’s no cosier venue at the Pleasance Courtyard than The Green, the huge inflated igloo that’s home to many of its shows for children this year. In The Just So Stories, kids, their parents and a few solitary grown-ups are invited to dive into the…
The Chronicles of Bitter and Twisted
8 Aug 2011
Charming and cheeky fairy tale sequel
A sequel to the classic outsider tale, these chronicles are best suited to the suggested 7+ age range – those younger or more sensitive are likely to find the matters at hand (bullying and exclusion) upsetting, and the several concurrent threads of the…
Pop-Up! The Amazing Adventures of Moo-Dong
8 Aug 2011
The art of entertaining
Theatre Bom’s Pop-Up! is based around the inspired notion of recreating famous paintings, such as Arcimboldo’s ‘fruit faces’ and Seurat’s ‘Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jette’, live onstage. Don’t be nervous: an in-depth knowledge of…
Under The Baobab Tree
8 Aug 2011
Animal tales from Africa
Do you know how the hyena got its laugh or the ostrich got its long neck? The answers in this show may not be entirely true, but they’re certainly fun. Performed by Edinburgh-based Toto Tales and Singapore’s I Theatre, Under the Baobab Tree is an hour…
Bagpuss
7 Aug 2011
Stage adaptation that’s just about purrfect
In 2001, Bagpus came fourth in Channel 4’s 100 Greatest Kids’ TV Shows opinion poll – and for good reason. Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin’s 1970s programme had a warm simplicity that hooked you in with imaginative tales, then rocked you gently in its…
The Tim Bat Trick Show
7 Aug 2011
Slickness and silliness in equal measure
Tim Bat has been doing the Fringe for so long, he could probably deliver his act with his eyes closed. Which is actually not a bad idea it might make the tricks he delivers a touch more daring. In an age when circus performers push the boundaries of…
Mr Benn
5 Aug 2011
Tall Stories bring iconic 70s children's animation to Edinburgh festival
It’s 40 years since David McKee first turned his series of picture books into a TV series. In an instant, shop dressing rooms became the doorway to potential adventure, where anything could happen. For an entire generation, Mr Benn signified the…
Snow Play bring snowball fight to 2011 Edinburgh Festival
29 Jul 2011
Children's show features interactive battle of the seasons
When Snow Play enjoyed a sell-out run at the Lyric theatre in London last December, the timing was perfect. Outside, children played with snow on the ground – then stepped inside the venue to find the same weather conditions represented on stage. The…
Mr Benn brings 1970s TV classic to Edinburgh Festival stage
29 Jul 2011
Kids show from makers of The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom
Anyone who has seen The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom or any of the other wonderful shows Tall Stories has staged over the years, will know that the company is no stranger to adaptation. This time, however, they’ve moved away from children’s picture books…
Bubblewrap and Boxes turns cardboard boxes into children's show
29 Jul 2011
Playing around with the post at 2011 Edinburgh Festival
As any young child will tell you, there’s no end of things you can do with a cardboard box. Melbourne-based theatre company Asking For Trouble discovered it too, when they turned a pile of unwanted boxes into packages and parcels to create award-winning…
Cloud Man combines puppetry and storytelling for 4-7-year-olds
29 Jul 2011
Edinburgh Festival children's theatre show based on clouds
Sometimes they’re white and fluffy, more often than not they’re full of rain - but there’s something about clouds that holds our interest. The latest in a long line of artists to be inspired by the natural phenomenon is puppeteer Ailie Cohen, with her…
Tim and Light children's show all about playing games and puppets
29 Jul 2011
Burton and Miyazaki-inspired puppetry at 2011 Edinburgh Festival
Tim and Light is the second children’s show from Tucked In, following 2007’s lauded Jackajack. In this adventure, which has been touring UK theatres and festivals this summer, a boy called Tim and his cat Light board a train from Brighton that doesn’t…
The Incredible Book Eating Boy - five-minute show for one adult and one child
29 Jul 2011
Oliver Jeffers’ book-munching tale comes to life in tiny Pleasance venue
In The Incredible Book Eating Boy, by award-winning children’s author Oliver Jeffers, a little boy called Henry gobbles up books like chocolate. At this year’s Fringe, Bootworks Theatre will stage an adaptation of this quirky but touching story in their…
Surrealism and stupidity of Dr Brown Brown Brown Brown Brown kids show
29 Jul 2011
Absurdist comic Phil Burgers a refreshing antidote to corporate Fringe
Anyone who saw last year’s late-night Fringe anarchy from Dr Brown may raise an eyebrow to learn that he’s now doing a kids’ show, as well as another full-on physically comedic adult hour. To the man behind the mask, absurdist American comic Phil…
The Velveteen Rabbit children's show from Backhand Theatre
29 Jul 2011
Much-loved children’s tale takes to the stage at 2011 Edinburgh Festival
Following the success of 2010’s Greek Myths for Kids (which returns for another run this year), Backhand Theatre are back at the Fringe with a new adaptation of Margery Williams’ 1922 novel, The Velveteen Rabbit. One of six shows presented by the…
Fringe for (around) a fiver: Kids
22 Jul 2011
The affordable kids' shows appearing at the Fringe this year
Taking the whole family to a Fringe show can be an expensive business these days. So it pays to get out there early and soak up some previews. Here are just a few of the top shows that are charging £5 for their opening performances on 3-5 Aug.
