At the Globe, artistic director Emma Rice and Michael Morpurgo have adapted Morpurgo’s The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips, about a botched rehearsal for the D-day landings that ended in a catastrophe, concealed for years. This family show mixes carnival and tragedy in a series of mash-ups, both merry and sad.
The time scheme jumps. This wartime story opens with (there is a plot hint here) Leaving on a Jet Plane. The register shifts from poignant reunions to cartoon episodes. Churchill and Hitler compete in a tremendously skilful skipping-rope contest. Puppets cavort: big chickens, a tiny parachutist and a winning ginger tom with round cheeks and skedaddling ways. Adults play children, with Katy Owen marvellously tough and frisky as the schoolgirl heroine. Genders switch. The lovely singer Nandi Bhebhe becomes a GI. Mike Shepherd is Grandma (frump wig) and a dolled-up mother (fur coat and lots of leg). The Globe is unusually dressed up: whirring propellers stick out from the pillars on stage.
War Horse has given the combination of puppetry and Michael Morpurgo a powerful theatrical pedigree. 946 does not have the same steamroller power. Yet alongside its musical bounce it lands a strong argument. In Devon are a Jewish teacher from occupied France, evacuees from London, and local farmers displaced for military manoeuvres. The stage is full of characters who should make audiences think again about the word “migrant”.
