‘Lost in the Woods’ (Venue 14, until AUG 28th)

“They start low and slow, ratcheting up the excitement and enthrallment with each plot twist and unexpected turn.”

I wonder how many times the weight and majesty of history has turned on a sneeze. On how many occasions has the course of human events been stuffed or shuffled owing to a semi-autonomous, convulsive expulsion of air from the lungs through the nose and mouth also known as sternutation? It’s a sneeze that sets the scene for Hawk and Hill Theatre’s Arran Hawkins and Hila Meckier’s ‘Lost in the Woods’ when, as the narrator, Hawkins sends the pages of his antiquarian book of fairy tales scattering to the four winds. There’s a mixup, there’s a twist (actually there are lots of twists) and it’s Hansel and Grettle who must bring order to chaos over the course of an hour of totally engrossing children’s theatre.

We’ve come in force. Two grandparents. Three daughters. Two parents. Outside, afterwards, the adults all agree. Most live performance for kids starts loud and gets louder. Hawk and Hill Theatre are doing something far more subtle and infinitely more captivating. They start low and slow, ratcheting up the excitement and enthrallment with each plot twist and unexpected turn. The staging is simple without being simplistic. For young minds still new to theatre, the prop concepts are easy to grasp, proving that there’s laughter aplenty to be found in everyday magic.

What’s really, really clever is that for the aulder young ones the mixing up, mashing up of the stories gives them a chance to remind themselves what little cleverclogs they are. They know the story of Rapunzel! They can recognise Cinderella even out of context and with scuba goggles for a glass slipper. For the medium young ones, like Daughter 2.0 (5yrs), there’s plenty of laugh-out-loud horseplay and wordplay, easily grasped and held onto. I’ve never heard her laugh that loud and I tell brilliant jokes. This is an eyes-up, attention-grabbing show, but there are lots of those at EdFringe. What makes ‘Lost in the Woods’ so special is that it fascinates in the true, Johnsonian sense, “To bewitch; to enchant; to influence in some wicked and secret manner.” Daughter 3.0 (18 months) who we did not manage to get napping on the bus ride in, is also caught up in the magic. For a person for whom everything is new and wondrous, it’s all about pairing concepts in new and exciting ways. A banana allergy that turns Meckier into a chicken cannot help but get a toddler’s synapses busing.

In her notebook, the one with a gingerbread house by Frank Lloyd Wright on the cover, Daughter 1.0 (8yrs) wrote, “I went to lost in the woods! when I walked In I saw a stage a big sheet over some polles and an old book. They told a story of the old book whiteh had got all muddled. And they told a story of Hansel and gretel witch were trying to get back to their own story. My favorite bit was when gretel ate a banana and turned into a chicken. I realy enjoyed it.”

Here’s a production unafraid to be different even when working with ultra-familiar family favourites. Here are two performers in perfect balance and synchronicity delivering up a smorgasbord of cleverly devised theatrical tricks and super-engaging effects. Both bright children and dull adults will here discover together a true gem to be kept and treasured forever.

Come for the stories. Stay for the storytelling. Get your coats on and go see this!

>> Read the company’s #EdFringeTalk with us here! <<