Mustard Doesn't Go with Girls

• Kelly Apter
• 12 August 2019

This article is from 2019

Young girls sets the world to rights in this lively musical

There's a strong message about gender, conformity and challenging the status quo in this new show from Bric à Brac theatre. It's also not short on witty characters or passionate performances. But the storytelling and language are tell-tale signs that this is the company's first show for children.

Tales within tales always come with an extra layer of complexity, and the performers do their best to delineate the two worlds. First, we meet a crocodile librarian on her last day at work (she's been asked to leave as she's too scary – though in truth she's utterly loveable), trying to work out which section of the library to place her only un-read book. Words such as 'categorisation' and 'genre' will baffle younger ones, but they'll get the point.

Then off we go, inside the world of the book, where another crocodile (only this one's mean) is ruling the town of Bow-on-Tie with an iron fist. Boys aren't allowed to bake or dance, girls can't do science or think about anything too complicated. That is until young Abigail discovers the croc's dark secret and sets about putting things right.

What it lacks in clarity, the show makes up for with enthusiasm, leading to a fun way to spend an hour.

Pleasance Courtyard, until 23 Aug, 11.30am, £10–£11 (£8–£9).