‘Snow White Rose Red Bear Brown’ (Venue 30, until AUG 17th)

“Here is a show to which parents and carers can take a medley of ages.”

Andy Lawrence is Fringe Treasure. His Theatre of Widdershins has been delivering exquisite quality theatre for the young and the young at heart since 1993. Audiences are guaranteed something special, something magical, something memorable. ‘Snow White Rose Red Bear Brown’ is a full-hour feature-length production that packs the 60 minutes with what must now be a trademark’s worth of family entertainment that hits all the high notes in all the right places.

We enter to find the ever-affable Andy on stage surrounded by some of his best and most understatedly elaborate props to date. There’s colour and craft in every item, a cornucopia of art and artistry is on display. It’s as if Merlin is running a pop-up roadside emporium. What makes Theatre of Widdershins such a delight for us aulder, increasingly less whimsical types, is how the puppetry seamlessly scaffolds the storytelling rather than vice versa. For all the gorgeous kit and kaboodle, it’s the story that’s the star; everything else is amplification and accentuation.

Here is a show to which parents and carers can take a medley of ages. We took our 3, 7, and 10 year aulds. The littlest liked best (and is still talking about) the “snipping the beard” bit. The 7 year auld’s favourite part was “when they first introduced the kids who turned into 8 years.” Daughter 1.0 wrote in her notebook (the one with Lilo and / or Stitch on the cover): “I really enjoyed ‘Snow White, Rose red and Bear Brown! I thought it was very touching, yet funny. I loved all the hilarious characters and interesting personalities. I thought that the detailed setup was very coulor-full and attracting for little ones. He was very interactive getting the audience to perform different sound affects and noises.”

Theatre of Widdershins is genre-defining quality. Every other act looking to reach this audience needs to see this show and see how they measure up. Get your best forest school coats on and go see this!

*THIS REVIEW IS FOR THE 26 JULY BEDFRINGE PERFORMANCE.