The Terrible Infants
Kids will love wrapping their ears around the avalanche of alliteration in the script and will delight in the comedy, whimsy, melancholy and mild horror of the stories
| 19 Aug 2007
This offering from acclaimed theatre company Les Enfants Terribles is a deliciously dark and playful little nugget of theatre for big kids and their parents. A collection of short tales is played out in a Gothic visual style reminiscent of the illustrations of Tim Burton and Richard Gorey. The teller of the tall tales is Tilly, a compulsive fibber who is punished for her dishonesty, Pinnochio-style, with a large tail that grows from her back the more outlandish the stories become.
It’s all fantastically well realised, with a different atmosphere created for each tale through a highly creative use of the set, props, music and language. One early scene introduces a giant baby called Tum, who is portrayed using a gigantic, beautifully designed papier-maché head and a series of increasingly large pink umbrellas, which are opened out to become his tummy as he eats more and gets bigger. The musicianship is impressive, with a small number of charmingly simple instruments, such as a miniature banjo and a keyboard with a blow-tube, used to create varied soundtracks to each story. Kids will love wrapping their ears around the avalanche of alliteration in the script and will delight in the comedy, whimsy, melancholy and mild horror of the stories. Discretion should be exercised with younger children, who may find the dark tone distressing. For anyone over the age of about seven, however, it’s a great box of tricks.
It’s all fantastically well realised, with a different atmosphere created for each tale through a highly creative use of the set, props, music and language. One early scene introduces a giant baby called Tum, who is portrayed using a gigantic, beautifully designed papier-maché head and a series of increasingly large pink umbrellas, which are opened out to become his tummy as he eats more and gets bigger. The musicianship is impressive, with a small number of charmingly simple instruments, such as a miniature banjo and a keyboard with a blow-tube, used to create varied soundtracks to each story. Kids will love wrapping their ears around the avalanche of alliteration in the script and will delight in the comedy, whimsy, melancholy and mild horror of the stories. Discretion should be exercised with younger children, who may find the dark tone distressing. For anyone over the age of about seven, however, it’s a great box of tricks.