The Girl and the Dragon @ Scottish Storytelling Centre

A 10-year-old called Lily and her uncle wait for a delayed train to far away. While they wait, they play at make believe, spinning a tale of a girl called Toral who loses her home when a dragon siren sounds, displacing her and her family. 

There are many layers to the dual narratives of Lily and Toral, skillfully woven together while maintaining a surface that is entirely engaging for a small child. For my four-year-old, it was a story about a little girl and an eagerly-awaited dragon, their battles and adventures. For older children and adults, it’s an exercise in empathy, hope, kindness, with a profound weight at its core. 

After the dragon’s apparent attack, Toral’s family are moved to somewhere where they must work menial jobs, like cleaning poo from the castle moat, and have no time for play. Within the ‘real world’ narrative, Lily’s parents’ absence and anticipation of starting a new life with her uncle holds a depth of grief that the child is processing through play. Loss of home and place, the multi-generational impact of displacement, the theft of play, fun, childhood – all are explored but lightly, so a child can comprehend and empathise with the marginalised and migrant experience. 

Creative use of materials by The Suitcase Storytelling Company conjures worlds far beyond the limitations of a sheet, a torch, a tea cosy. There’s a realism to the depiction of a child’s storytelling and the serious catharsis of play that is incredibly difficult to capture, although they make it look easy. Ultimately, The Girl and the Dragon offers a message of kindness and hope – challenge those in authority, do what is right, offer forgiveness and redemption to those who acknowledge fault.

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The Girl and the Dragon, Scottish Storytelling Centre (Netherbow Theatre), until 21 Aug (not 17-19), 10am, £8-10