It would be hard to find a children's play more Bristolian and more brilliant than Ernie's Journey. Jackie Clementine units his love of circus skills, pirates, silliness and music into one big explosion of fun and entertainment.
Hailing what the West Country, the play explores one of our area's most revered local legends: pirates. Ernie (played by Jackie Clementine) is a boy with a dream of becoming a pirate and after finding a submerged, magical ship on the River Avon, he's able to set sail to the ocean where he encounters what he believes to be 'the beast from the deep'.
Throughout the 60-minute, which is currently touring the country, Jackie brings together juggling, puppetry, songs and some classic slapstick humour to create a show that had crowds laughing, shouting and sitting at the edge of their seats.
A highlight from the show was when the ship encountered a storm, sparking bubbles and water being blown into the crowd. My son was amazed watching Ernie juggling knives and balancing on a rolling barrel at the same - he came out saying 'wow, anything really is possible in that play'.
The whole show was brought to life by the atmospheric music played by Emmy the Harp, whose sublime melodies transported the audience to the river's bank.
As well as being amusing, there was a serious moral to the story that was bubbling along throughout. Firstly, Ernie learns the 'beast from the deep' wasn't the huge puppet that was chasing him when he almost drowned during a storm, but was actually a 'voice' deep within making you too scared to follow your dreams. The second topic the show explores is plastic in our oceans.
We watched the theatrical feat in Bath's Egg venue, but it's also on in Bristol, London and Coventry. The impressive mashup of Jackie's circus skills with Emmy's musical genius left the audience totally spellbound and is definitely a play you don't want to miss.
Clementine Live Art's Ernie's Journey, which is funded by the Arts Council, is currently touring the UK, you can find out more here..
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