by Roles, roll up! Abracadabra! In this one-Woman Puppet Show, which can be seen for the first time in 2022, there is hardly a trad-circus trick with its red and gold ingredients, chords A-go-go and Tardis-like top hat. This vintage atmosphere, which is perfect for the atmospheric little angel, includes the performing animals that George presented the ring master (Lizzie Word, who wrote and developed with the director Miranda Pitcher).
We see lions, tigers and monkeys that George – a little too nostalgic – made stunts with the show. They were replaced by jumping fleas and playful mice, although this reformed spectacle with pet fruits rather asks its pitch, including rabbits that apparently drive bicycles. The grand finale is a dog pin with a routine in Savitsky Cats style.
It is aimed at children aged two to five years, it is a captivating, 45-minute vertebrae, which is due to some lively rhymes, the warm approach of spice (corresponds to sherry Coenen’s lighting) and a leap by Julian Butler. Neither the haunted background story of this circus nor the minor plot of land draw it in: it is the carousel of the acts that are most designed by Lyndie Wright (including a happy clown) and some participation of the audience. Word goes particularly well to a young volunteer who seems to have second thoughts in the spotlight.
The attention to detail impresses: a ruin dog who carries a call, the sparkling Miss scratchy cat with a luxuriously poured cock, a stamped addressed envelope that was presented to an audience with a flea in the hair so that they return the insect in their free time. Some of the designs are at least too awake at least from my row to completely appreciate it, but there is a wonderful big top that appears in a book designed by Vicki Fullick and a carefully lined up thread with mini-young fruits. The set and costume design of Pitcher have a past charm, and although there is no real wow moment, this bizarre show has many nice details.
• In the Little Angel Theater, London, until April 19th
