The pre-performance instructions give a hint of what's to come in this fun and stimulating show for the over-fives. Audience members should bring a torch with them, and ensure that mobile phones are switched on. The latter is so any evidence of dinosaurs living in the Old Vic can be captured; the torch is so you can find your way around the studio and basement where Toby Hulse's interactive journey unfolds.
Bristol's Old Vic, during its closure, has apparently been used as an overflow space by the British Museum, and five local council employees have so far disappeared (the foyer is plastered with "missing" posters for them), last seen going into the storage area. As guides lead groups downstairs, you hear blood-curdling screams and what sounds like a very large creature growling and grunting. Once in the gloom, you are free to explore through dry ice, heavily cobwebbed museum exhibits, and subterranean passages inhabited by curious Victorian characters and two lively cave people lolloping around to great effect.
The best bits are at a child's height: an irresistible dark passageway from which a pair of red eyes glowers; a skull sticking out of the ground. Tiny museum cases, full of peculiar items, entertain the young audience as much as the louder, scarier stuff, and encourage them to find their own stories as explorers. A loose narrative keeps things moving along, and there's a final slapstick battle between good and evil which knits the wanderings together.
A little more story-telling and direction throughout wouldn't go amiss, as sometimes it feels a bit haphazard and unevenly paced, but there are many moments of boisterous magic, which the youngsters uniformly relish.
