‘Who Stole My Hammer?’ (Venue 302, until AUG 28th)

“Rosie Evans and Fiona Hawk are many, many things but most of all they are perfect.”

You can’t fake a kids’ show. The audience won’t let you. If what’s happening on stage is working, what’s happening in the audience will be a delight to behold. Little people bouncing up and down on the edge of their seats, squealing with excitement, enthralled to the storytelling. This is exactly the scene that would greet a latecomer to Myth-Fits ‘Who Stole My Hammer?’ But don’t be late. Don’t delay. This is easily one of the best kids’ shows we’ve seen all Fringe.

We’ve come en masse. Granny, Mummy, x3 daughters, and me. We brought a reasonable amount of Viking knowledge, but need not have bothered. Amid all the clever details and two finely-tuned performances hitting all the high notes, it would be easy to overlook a neat and compact exposition which establishes who the Vikings were, their love of stories, as well as the key figures in their pantheon of Gods. The explanations are over in the blink of the Allfather’s remaining eye and… …we’re off! like greyhounds from the slip, tearing along through the story of Thor, his hammer, Loki, Freyja, and the King of the Trolls.

Rosie Evans and Fiona Hawk are many, many things but most of all they are perfect. Their individual performances could not be improved, but together they are so, so much more than the sum of their considerable parts. The pacing, always a tough set of decisions in children’s theatre, is what you’d expect if a Bugatti Mistral had a baby with a Lamborghini Revuelto. It roars through the hour packing so much in that I suspect Mary Poppins herself taught Evans and Hawks how to pack a magic carpet bag.

The stars of the show are Odin’s twin ravens, Hugin and Munin, puppets so animated you’d be forgiven for thinking they are the ones in control. Perhaps they are. It’s not every show that offers the promise of having your mother-in-law’s nose to be nibbled off by memory and thought, which is another audience participation laurel in the show’s crowded crown. Daughter 3.0 (18 months), who managed to sleep through Doktor Kaboom (no mean feat) is wide awake and utterly entranced. ‘Who Stole My Hammer?’ will live forever in our family’s lore as the first piece of live performance that really connected with her.

In her notebook, the one with Mjölnir and a longship on the cover, Daughter 1.0 (8yrs) wrote: “I went to “Who stole my hammer?”! When I walked in I saw a stage and lots of boxes. with props inside. They told a story of Thor and his hammer witch whent missing! It turned out it had been stolen by a giant, ugly troll and Thor had to dress up as Frega (Goddess of love) to get his hammer back. And there was some black crows witch tried to peck people’s faces! I liked the bit where Thor dressed up as Freya. I really enjoyed it.”

EdFringe is a tough nut to crack, even when you’ve got Mjölnir in your prop back. It’s why details like getting your show’s title right matter. I’ll bet you a hat full of hack silver audiences would have been quicker to spot this absolute gem if it had been called, ‘Viking Bedtime Stories: Who Stole My Hammer?’. But that’s the only alteration I would suggest to this perfectly rigged, perfectly steered, perfectly sailed vessel as it takes audiences young and auld on a wonderful journey of fun and discovery.