This collaboration between the Polka and the Royal Opera House is a 45-minute opera and dance experience for two- to four-year-olds. It is not the first time that Polka have produced opera for the very young: the 2010 Skitterbang Island, with a libretto by Phil Porter and a score by Martin Ward, was a livelier and more ambitious show than this abstract affair. Dot, Squiggle and Rest is perfectly charming, but a bit unadventurous and unengaging.
The under-fours are up for pretty well anything and haven’t yet decided that opera is not for them, so they take proceedings in their stride. Even so, the show sets quite a challenge for itself and its audience by eschewing narrative and characters and simply presenting a series of images, possibilities and transformations. At its best, there is a smidgeon of magic. The set is like one of those children’s activity books: as bits of it are pushed out to become props, rabbit ears are transformed into wings, a triangular piece of cardboard becomes a dress and the bubbles of an undersea world suddenly turn into shimmering stars.
All this is lovely, and Elspeth Brooke’s frisky and soothing score creates its own sense of awe to match the dreamy wonderland of the staging. But the piece is slow to get going, and even at 45 minutes a restlessness sets in among the audience. It’s also absurdly po-faced and humourless, until a cardboard box turned tent collapses. It is as if the show wants to prove that opera isn’t much fun.
Although the cast are warm, their inexperience in object manipulation and engaging with young audiences shows. Dot, Squiggle and Rest may not deliver, but there is no reason why the Polka and the Royal Opera House can’t learn from this experience and make sweet music together in the future.
• At Polka, London, until 16 August. Box office: 020-8543 4888.
