one4review | On 12, Aug 2012

One Star

*

There was some lovely a capella singing in this show, which told the tale of Briar Rose, also known as Sleeping Beauty. Sadly, there wasn’t enough of anything else to engage the young audience, as demonstrated by the chatty toddler behind me. The cast need stronger voices, or projection lessons to command the show despite these distractions.

The puppets were hard to see, even if toddlers were standing on the seats, as by definition, puppets on strings have to be low. Their sets and scenery was pretty much lost from any distance back.

Early on, there was a join-in song, which boded well, despite not being one I knew, but that was then the only example, which was a pity. The show was altogether too slow, with long gaps for re-arranging the sets, and despite the singing during this, the target age group (pre-schoolers) mainly don’t have that level of patience.

After the show, there was an option (for an additional fee) to go onto a red bus for a ride around town, or buy bus merchandise. If you were thinking of taking a small bus fan along, you could go straight to that.

Reviewed by Gill Smith

The Red Bus

To 15th August

10:00 to 10:35  –  11:30 to 12:05  –   13:00 to 13:35 –  15:00 to 15:35