Almost 10

Nine-year-old Rachel is not your typical sweet-natured youngster. She despises her teacher, her nanny and even her own mother, and enjoys nothing quite as much as she enjoys making a naughty prank phone-call.

This Tangram Theatre production, which has its UK premier at the Fringe, takes us through a year of Rachel’s life. Through her eyes we meet kooky child-psychologists, and even get some one-on-one action between Barbie and Ken. This perfomance brings back memories of childhood frustrations from an age where no-one heeded your opinions and you felt as though nothing you said or did really mattered.

The minimalist staging functions very well as an imaginative tableau for the story with its ups and downs. Caroline Horton is unusually convincing in her role as this misunderstood nine-year-old, while the script is efficiently written in the language of a precocious young lady; which allows the adult audience a glimpse into a world of childhood confusion most of us have forgotten.

Unfortunately, the plot border on the confusing at times. Although jumping from topic to topic might be typical in the mind of a nine-year-old, it impairs the flow of the show to a certain extent. Almost 10 is definitely on the list of charming and funny additions to this years Fringe programme: it is a good value show, and an endearingly pleasant way to spend an afternoon.