Reading books to children can be an absolute delight. It can also be a form of slow torture if they pull out the same book for the 50th time in a row or they choose one of the many stories that make you wonder how they ever got published.
Luckily, Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler created a dream team that has brought a whole range of genuinely fantastic, creative stories to us poor parents that even on the 50th read are still a joy for adults to read. The fast-paced use of rhyme and soothing drawings create the perfect bedtime reads, with some heart-warming characters such as the very small snail, in ‘The Snail and the Whale’ and the witch in ‘Room on a Broom’.
One of my personal favourites has always been the stick in ‘Stickman’, as his quest to get back home spreads the importance of family to our young children. In this book, one of their most famous stories, a stick is dragged through a series of unfortunate situations that draw him further and further away from the family tree, his home, as he ventures across the sea and into winter. The ending of the story features a surprise guest appearance from Santa, making this my all-time favourite book to read at this time of year. It’s safe to say I was as excited as my 4 year old son to watch it at Leeds Playhouse.
The cast comprised of only 3 cast members: Luke Byeford as Stick Man, Georgia Jackson as Stick Lady Love and Patrick Orkney as an actor/musician extraordinaire. The set appealed to me as soon as we entered, with the Stick Man’s family tree firmly centre stage and a range of musical instruments stage right, suggesting the importance of live music in the show. The Courtyard Theatre is my preferred venue at the Playhouse as it offers a more intimate setting for smaller scale shows and is less overwhelming for a young audience.
Instantly I could tell by the staging that this performance would be very different from some children’s theatrical productions we’ve seen recently. From the opening moment, music played a dominant role. Incidental music ran almost continuously throughout, which could have become annoying but the soft, folk-style tones added a calming atmosphere and sense of magic. The musician Patrick Orkney added a wide variety of live music over the top of the recorded backing track, including percussion, ukulele and some outstanding saxophone solos. The trio of performers together also sang several songs throughout, all with excellent harmonies and well-timed choreography.
There were two main things that would always be tricky about this show; making a book that could be read in 5 minutes last for 55, and presenting Stick Man as a character on stage. For the latter they had an actual puppet of the Stick Man that was held by Luke Byeford, whilst he became for much of it Stick Man himself. The same was true for Georgia Jackson, though she also took on many of the other roles, including the dog and the swan. They handled the transition from stick to actors fairly well, although I think the Stick Man could have had a few more costume links to the Stick, such as the trademark leaf on his head, to help the young children understand this swap a bit easier. Even the dog could have been given a simple addition of dog ears on his hat in order to again help the younger audience recognise the character.
The Beach Song in particular went off on a bit of a tangent, and so the story lost pace and direction. Additional lines throughout were also added in this adaptation, which is acceptable of course when expanding a short book into a play: I just wish they had been consistent with keeping up the traditional rhythming poetry that is a trademark of Julia Donaldson’s writing.
Frekle Productions are well known for producing plays of this calibre, including ‘Zog’ and ‘Tabby McTat’ and their creative, multidisciplined performance uses many techniques of award-winning storytelling companies such as Theatre Alibi. Their music composition and puppetry-making teams are particularly impressive and appeal to the younger target audience. Unlike ‘Peppa Pig’ this is a company clearly aware of the demands of their target audience and have met them. Despite the need to stretch the performance out, the actions are well rehearsed and tight, their ensemble impeccable and their work creative and well directed.
My son clearly enjoyed the performance, asking if he could see it all again as soon as the house lights went on. His favourite character he said was the dog, but Santa definitely gained the loudest cheers from him. For me, this was by far the best children’s production I’ve seen for some time, although I still think £21 for a four year old to watch a 55 minute show is far too expensive. If I have more of an idea that they will be good, like this one, then I’ll be more inclined to pay that kind of money, so I think I’ll be staying away for the heavily franchised productions and sticking to those that focus on storytelling, especially if I know they are being performed in the Courtyard Theatre.
‘Stick Man’ couldn’t have picked a better time to be performed than December. It’s not solely a Christmas play, but has enough of Santa in it to feel magical and seasonal. Instead, the play focuses on the need to be at home, to be surrounded by those you love, and the importance of not taking them for granted when you are there. With that in mind, what better show can you take your young child to at Christmas time…..
Stick man is at The Courtyard Theatre until 31 December.
Photographs provided by Leeds Playhouse. Credit Mark Senior. Cover photograph Patrick Orkney, Luke Byeford (Stick Man) and Georgia Jackson.
