York Theatre Royal (Studio) – until Saturday 12 October 2019
Review by Zoe Giles
4****
The Boy Who Cried Wolf written by Mike Kenny, with stage manager Kirsty Smith, York Theatre Royal and working with Tutti Frutti once again managed to put together a delight of story telling, music, dance and acting to re-tell this well known classic tale.
On entering the studio we were met by the characters: Silas – Alex Wingfield, Mum – Florence Russell and Grandad – Guido Garcia Lueches, busy knitting away which instantly made the younger members of the audience feel at ease and part of the production.
Although the set was very limited and some might say basic, clever use of lighting and props along with movement around the stage area lead us to believe we were joining Grandad and Silas up high in the mountains or all warm and cosy at home with all the family knitting away for the all important jumper of the year competition! We were even treated to snow through clever use of prop’s and lighting.
The children in the audience especially seemed to like the “sheep” my own son included who found them hilarious, they were dancing around, giving high five’s and even “flossing” hearing the children laughing must have been music to the actor’s ear’s knowing their intended audience were enjoying themselves.
The play itself lasts approximately an hour which for the younger children it’s aimed at is the perfect time, I took my ten year old son with me, thankfully he really enjoyed it and found it funny but in truth I would personally recommend for slightly younger children and preschooler’s as an introduction to the theatre.
A nice touch was the actor’s speaking to the children after the show as they left the studio and engaging them in conversation about the story and encouraging them to draw, paint and do art’s and craft.
Over all a delightful performance from all involved and I would recommend to all with little one’s.