It’s the 25th anniversary of Nick Butterworth’s gorgeous picture book about Percy the park keeper who, one snowy night, finds his hut and bed invaded by all the animals living in the frozen park. Courtesy of designer Cathy Wren, Sally Goldsworthy’s staging creates a complete environment taking us first into the park where Percy works with his friend, Bob, and then into Percy’s hut itself. It’s an apparently tiny structure with a Tardis-like interior big enough to accommodate children and parents.
This show is simplicity itself, but what’s lovely about it is that it’s beautifully pitched for the three to six-year-old age group and it’s faithful but never too literal: it benefits from the children’s familiarity with the material but also springs a few surprises. This is very much a storytelling show but it is done just so, although it would have been nice to have more design detail in the hut.
The slapstick double act between Percy and Bob – a bit of a birdbrain – is very nicely done, and once the animals start arriving out of the snow, the show really takes off as puppetry is called into service with a real sense of fun. There’s a highly strung squirrel, an old-school badger and a fox who learns that if he wants shelter he mustn’t step over the line and gobble up all the other animals. One of the pleasures is that the show allows young children to be far cleverer than Percy, giving a genuinely interactive element.
It’s a low-key piece, but it’s none the worse for that and offers a final snowy moment of magic. If you go, make sure you check out the superb Oliver Jeffers exhibition in the basement. Another example of how this essential venue is finding new ways to stimulate young imaginations.
Until 24 December. Box office: 020-8546 5555 Venue: Discover Centre
