I wasn’t familiar with the Roald Dahl story that this fantastically charming show is adapted from, and nor were the three- and five-year-old I lugged along to see it, but it made no odds: the production by Little Angel theatre is as delightful a kiddie entertainment as it’s possible to conceive.
The theatre itself, with its atmosphere redolent of an Edwardian toybox but without the starchiness, is as much a part of the experience: a pocket-sized former temperance hall, wedged behind a church in Islington, which has honed the art of enabling even the smallest kids to get a good view of the action.
Directed and designed by Peter O’Rourke, the brilliance of this production reveals itself from the very first moment, when a small boy named Billy lollops into view, kicking his football ahead of him. A mysterious abandoned building turns out to be a former sweetshop, since taken over by a trio of animals who are operating the Ladderless Window Cleaning Company. With a fun song or two, they show that this is possible via the combination of the giraffe’s neck, which can reach the highest windows, the bulbous beak of the pelican (the “Pelly”) that acts as a water bucket, and the monkey (“Me”) who sits on the giraffe’s head and does the swabbing.
The quartet of puppeteers – Mandy Travis, Michael Fowkes, Seonaid Goody and Ronnie Le Drew – conduct their own intricate ballet as they bring the story to life; it’s fascinating to watch in itself as they glide and twirl about the stage in their black suits and matching trilbies.
It’s just the right length, with ingenious but simply conceived scenery, and finely honed stagecraft that knows exactly how far to swoop the giraffe’s nose over the heads of the audience without freaking them out. A Christmas treat.
• At Little Angel theatre, London, until 31 January. Box office: 020-7226 1787.
