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Musical, humorous, good lighting
Derek Frood, Ben Worth and Cerianne Roberts believing in unicorns I Believe in Unicorns
Malvern Theatres
***** YET another wonderful tale by Michael Morpurgo, and a great adaptation by Daniel Jamieson. Theatre Alibi do a fantastic job of
bringing Morpurgo’s characters to life, and it’s a real credit to actors
Ben Worth, Cerianne Roberts and Derek Frood that they are able not only
to convincingly play the piece’s vast range of characters between the
three of them, but to also do this seamlessly and without ever leaving
the stage. I Believe in Unicorns
is promoted as a play for 6-12 year
olds, but I would recommend the production to anyone over the age of
six, as it has so much to offer to anyone whether child or adult.
Although the central character, Tomas, is looking back to his childhood,
the intertwined themes of this tale can be appreciated by audiences of
all ages, and Morpurgo once again blends humour, wonder and high
emotion, weaving stories within stories and taking us on an enc There is an incredible
amount crammed in to this one hour performance, with tales from Noah’s
ark, memories of book burning, explorations of friendship, a beautiful
retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s
The Little Match Girl complete with
match girl puppet, stories of narwhals, and of course unicorns. Thomas Johnson (pictured) deserves a
special mention for his fantastic live musical accompaniment to the
whole production, and it added greatly to the show having him sitting on
stage amongst the performers as he played a variety of instruments from
guitar to accordion to violin, sometimes using a loop pedal to layer the
different sounds on top of each other. I loved the different relationships between
various characters, and there were sweet touches such as the moment when
Tomas’s father assured his son that he wasn’t crying, the cold wind had
simply made his eyes water. There were a few moments in the play where I
could feel that cold wind making my eyes water too. My ten year old assistant reviewer noted that the
piece was ‘musical’, ‘humorous’ and had ‘good lighting’. My thirteen
year old covered a page with randomly scribbled yet effusive key words
and phrases. Without ruining the plot, he seemed to sum up the
production and its mood fabulously. ‘Dramatic’, ‘girl in mud’, ‘homemade
bread’, ‘Tintin books’, ‘death’, ‘smelly’, ‘clever hidden things’, ‘poor
books’, ‘unicorn lady’, ‘hot chocolate’, ‘war changes everything’, ‘wow’
and ‘YOLO’ – I imagine Michael Morpurgo’s notes before starting the
story must have looked fairly similar. I love the way Morpurgo sneaks serious messages
and themes into works which are entertaining and fun, and this
adaptation, which Morpurgo himself refers to as ‘magical’, captures and
adapts Morpurgo’s words and worlds beautifully. The set design with
multi-functional unicorn in central position works perfectly. I could go
on but am running out of superlatives. Just go and see it. I Believe in Unicorns is
playing in Malvern at various times over the next few days to suit
everyone with children . . . or without. To 2-5-15. Amy Rainbow
28-4-15
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hanting
yet moving journey through peaceful snowy mountain sledging, wartime
tragedy and just about everything in between.