In the outwardly perfect town of Bow-on-Tie ‘girls are darling and boys are charming!’ But oh dear, a Crocodile Mayor wants to eat all the kiddies and brainwashes the headmistress with her evil fangs to put the little darlings into detention for her weekly lunch.
Fair enough style of governance if you ask me…
If you’d like to introduce your own young ‘uns to the spirit of the Fringe you couldn’t do better than this show. The Fringe, once an open platform for new writing, direction and acting talent, is now woefully so infiltrated by the already established it’s not even worthy of the ‘fringe’ tag any more.
However here we have a tiny theatre (yet with absurdly comfy seating), an enthusiastic bunch of ladies and one chap, a bit of a crazy script and an abundance of energy.
Abigail, a worthy young girl, aspires to be a scientist in a world where girls are only allowed to be pretty. Using her science skills, and a bit of fairy tale knowledge, to her advantage she aims to save the day.
The cast are one and all true talents, working intricately with fun props, dancing and physical set pieces. There’s plenty of audience interaction: “Ah, a single dad…” The evil Mayor purrs.
At the preview show the cast did a stellar job with a small audience. I hope once they build momentum to a fuller house their skill and chutzpah will pay off.
My only criticism of this show is that the subject matter is a tad old fashioned. Sure, we all know girls can be scientists and boys bakers – this is Edinburgh, guys.
Give this theatre company a challenging, modern subject matter and yes: “This little girl can reach the stars!” in the meantime, go see.
This lot are something special.
Pleasance Upstairs 11.30 Tickets here
