Eat your heart out, David Attenborough! Little Bulb have Antarctica and its wildlife sussed, and explorers don't even have to leave Bristol to see this icy wilderness and all its wonders. The company have always had a sense of childlike awe. But this three-hander for the very young is the company's first attempt to create a show for children. It's a magical 50 minutes dusted with snowflakes and exquisitely simple stagecraft.
To be honest, not a whole lot happens, but an entire frozen world is opened up in loving detail as the show gently sends up the stiff-upper-lip British polar exploration tradition of the past, draws on the slapstick comedy of silent movies and offers a glimpse of the creatures living in the "coldest of the cold", both real and mythical. If you've never encountered the Owlarbear (a cross between an owl and a polar bear), you're in for a treat.
Via some brilliantly handled audience interaction, we become members of Bristol's "brave explorer's club" and head out on an expedition to Antarctica led by the bushy-bearded Peregrine Falcon. We're in charge of maps, sandwiches and saying "ahoy" as we encounter a world of dancing snowflakes, deliciously comic penguins and oinking walrus seals.
It may be tongue-in-cheek, but there's no doubting that the wildlife – conjured from a black tailcoat and a pair of long johns or a swimming hat, goggles and a moustache – is based on close observation. There is a glimpse beneath the ice, where whales and luminous jellyfish swim amid the bubbles, and a mixture of live and recorded music provides a soundtrack throughout. Like so much of Little Bulb's work, this is a show that's quietly unassuming, beautifully crafted and totally huggable.
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