Wild thing - review of Michaela Strachan's Really Wild Adventures

Michaela Strachan’s Really Wild Adventures, at The Haymarket, Basingstoke, on Saturday, April 6

THE DADS of Hampshire must be big fans of poetry, because I observed far more of them in the audience than turn out for most family shows. And they were so devoted to their children as well; queuing patiently to allow them to meet the lovely Michaela Strachan after the show. A truly heartwarming sight.

I am being a bit cheeky there, of course - Strachan has a place in the hearts of many (both men and women) who grew up in the 80s when she was a presenter on Children’s BBC’s Really Wild Show, as well as the cult late night ITV clubbing show The Hitman And Her. I must admit that I was pretty excited to meet Strachan myself - she was central in developing my fondness for earrings at a tender age; as I told her baffled young niece when I discovered that I was sat next to her during the show.

...Really Wild Adventures is based on Strachan’s book of poems of the same name, which in turn are inspired by her own experiences encountering wildlife in all parts of the world for various nature programmes - she will soon be back on our screens presenting BBC’s Springwatch. This was no gentle poetry corner-style performance though; Strachan’s stage show was full of fun, music, audience participation and even acrobatics, as she hung upside down in gravity boots to recite her poem about Wrapped Up Bats.

Strachan’s poems are not just full of facts, but also reflect the emotions drawn from encounters that have genuinely touched her, such as meeting orphaned elephants, rhinos and orangutans; and the thrills of removing a tooth from a polar bear and getting really close to her beloved African penguins on the coast of South Africa, where she now lives.

Her enthusiasm for the natural world was displayed with affection and joy, and although the show was aimed at ages three to 10 (and, I would suggest, more appealing to the younger end of that span), the parents were sparked by her enthusiasm as well - although, oddly, not enough for many of the dads present to volunteer to come on stage to imitate animal noises or play the part of a spitting cobra or an anesthetised polar bear. Luckily, Strachan’s mum was present, and proved herself to be as good a sport as her daughter, who bounced around with as much life-affirming enthusiasm as she did on the telly back when we were young.

• First published in the Newbury Weekly News on Thursday, April 11, 2013

Scary monsters and super creeps - review of The Gruffalo's Child

The Gruffalo’s Child, at The Corn Exchange, Newbury, on Friday, March 22 to Sunday, March 24

LIKE the best fairy tales, a lot of young children’s picture books have a slightly scary slant to them; but enough is left to the imagination, and judicious interpretation of a handy grown up, to take the edge off any fear that they may induce.

It is when these tales are transposed into moving images, be it in cartoons, on stage or live action television and film, where the challenges arise, of how to keep the fun frights in, without giving little people the major heeby jeebies. The 2009 Spike Jonze film of Where The Wild Things Are; I’m not sure how much it frightened the children I saw it with, but the constant sense that young Max could be eaten by the beasts he rules over at any minute put the terrors into me.

And so, Julia Donaldson’s much-loved books, The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child, set similar challenges. As monsters go, The Gruffalo is rather cuddly, but let’s face facts: he eats anthropomorphic mice. And owls, foxes and snakes. He is not a beast to be toyed with, despite his cutey-pie face.

In its three-hand hour-long production of The Gruffalo’s Child, Tall Stories gets the balance just right. The Gruffalo spends most of the show asleep, and all of it sat down, as he cuddles his daughter and warns her about the Big Bad Mouse (the never-seen Mrs Gruffalo is presumably out gathering normal-sized mice for breakfast). One or two audience members let out a bit of a wail when he first appeared - a large three-dimensional Gruffalo strikes an imposing figure and bound to create a bit of a stir on first meeting - but it all settled down pretty quickly.

Against his dad’s wise advice, the Child ventures into the deep, dark woods to find the fabled Big Bad Mouse, meeting along the way the snaked-hipped (of course) Snake, RAF officer Owl and a spivving Fox,  all of whom are tempted to turn the mini Gruffalo into their favourite dish until the mouse is mentioned and they make a sharp exit.

Zingy songs and fast-paced scenes added plenty of fun to neutralise the bleakness of the snowy, windy woods with its clawing trees lit by a large, heavy moon, and the three performers worked their socks off to make a jolly old time of it for audience members young and old. The book didn’t feel stretched for the sake of dramatic effect, with each of the predatory animals (played by the same actor) being given a strong character to play with and get the audience involved.

This was a production that treated the source material, and children’s intelligence, with full respect, without veering either towards mawkishness or nightmare-inducing horror. I’m going to let you into a secret now - neither me or my own child (not a Gruffalo) are massive fans of Julia Donaldson’s books - but after seeing this show, we will be giving them another go. Although she will now expect me to do all the voices.

• First published in Newbury Weekly News on March 28, 2013